Distance Between Dimensions: Rise of the Summoners
by The AFK Pool
Summary: After years of taking care of his cartoonishly evil twin brothers, Kein finds himself in a situation which could cost him his life. However, when all seems lost, and death by family seems inevitable, an unknown force gives him a chance at redemption. Though, maybe not in the way he would have expected... or hoped. Rated M for language, violence, and non-graphical adult themes.
1. Severe Family Issues

**A/N:**

 **It's about fucking time! Like really! REALLY! How long! Someone grab a calendar! Count the days! This took way, way too long to get out! However, let's forget that small detail, because that's not important. We just have to forget that I'm a lazy fuck who gets distracted way too often for his own good. But, hey at least I got it out!**

 **Ssethelis: And I had to deal with the ways he decided to let it all out! All of them!**

 **Annnnd now it's perverted… Thanks Sseth! I appreciate your absolutely unnecessary input!**

 **Ssethelis: It's not perverted! I'm just taking your words out of your mouth and putting them to good use.**

 **It's only a good use to you… And millions of others… No, yeah you're right. Anywho! Onwards! Just going to put this out there, I was planning on posting the story once I had written all of it. Yeah, not gonna happen now. I need to start posting this so I have an incentive to write. Therefore, once every two weeks, I'm going to be posting a chapter.**

 **Ssethelis: Are you sure two weeks is enough time for people to finish your chapters? They are a bit long.**

 **Sseth, unless the readers are only reading two pages a night, I'm sure two weeks is enough time… God, that would be painful. Well, I suppose it mostly depends on how much time people have to actually read.**

 **Ssethelis: Alright then, enough! Damnit! Just stop! Stop with the author's note! The chapter's already thirty google doc pages, we don't need to add this to the word count as well!**

 **Fine! Fine! Fucking fine! Geez! You're acting like this is your story! But fine! I'll end it with this. I swear to god, you'd think that after all this time.**

 **Clearly, I don't own anything Spyro related. You know, like the world, characters, enemies n' stuff like that. I do, however, own all my OC's, you'll know them when you read them. Sadly, I have to add this on every chapter. So expect sarcasm.**

 **And remember, cats are just rectangles with legs.**

* * *

 _(Boobs. Now that I have your attention, I- the author of this mixed disaster- would like to make a small note in regards to new readers. Dodging details, after chapter 11 the story was out on nearly a two-year hiatus. Meaning that after that chapter, the writing style changes, grammar/editing improve, and previously inlaid ideas are kind of... debunked. Only slightly, though... in my opinion. You might be thinking, "Why not just rewrite it?" Well, MrMiss Person, that's a good question. My main reason as of now is that I kind of think of it as an evolution, if you would. A way to show where I started- because I honestly just did this one day without a plan. If that's a turn off for you... meh. Sorry, can't say much more than that. I guess if I were trying to persuade people to read it in spite of what I think is a horrid start, I'd say think of it as Fellowship of the Ring. Starts slow but picks up.)_

 **Chapter 1: Severe family issues**

Wind. All he could hear was the wind. Whether it was blowing through the trees, causing their branches to creak and leaves to rustle, or calmly nuzzling the grass as it swayed back and forth, lazily in waves while fallen leaves are pushed across their blades. Even though he had yet to open his eyes, the sheer silence of the moment was enough for him to immediately decide that he loved it here, wherever here was.

He could already recognize the familiar, uneven pressure of grass under his jacket as well as along his pant legs as he lay on his back, facing the sky. The fact that there was grass was enough to completely confuse him, the only areas of grass that he knew about was his front lawn and the park by the city's high school. Furthermore, it was the middle of winter on the Montana-Canadian border where he lived, and he could clearly tell that this grass wasn't covered in frost. To back up his suspicions even more, he wasn't even the slightest bit cold.

After a few more moments of the too-perfect peace, he decided that it was time to learn more about the area he was in. Upon opening his eyes, he couldn't help but stare at the sky for a brief moment. It was the most stereotypical shade of blue he had ever seen, in fact, it was the most stereotypical sky he had ever seen. Clouds dotted its bright blue surface. Whether they were big or small, they all had the puffy, cotton ball-like appearance that was always portrayed in fantasies and storybooks. Having already proven his point that it was not winter, he sat up, breaking the silence with a pained groan. However, this silence didn't last long, and soon, he could hear the sounds of the forest again.

Unsurprisingly, he was in a forest, to be more precise, he was in the middle of a clearing, in the middle of a forest. Studying the surrounding treeline, he immediately noticed that, once again, everything looked abnormally normal. All the trees looked like oak, or some form thereof. The small ferns and shrubs that surrounded the bases of the trees were all very neat looking, almost as if someone, or something, was tending to them. The small hill he was sitting on allowed him to slightly look over the treeline, and from what he could tell, there was no end to the forest he was in. For some reason unbeknownst to him, he gulped, like they do in children's cartoons, and slowly began to stand up, hoping to get a better vantage point for looking over the foliage.

Suddenly, an agonizing bolt of pain shot throughout his body, originating in the throat region, causing him to fall back down to the grass. He attempted to yell in pain, but his aching vocal cords would not allow it. So instead, he sat there, writhing in pain for a few more seconds before the aches started to die down to a bearable level.

Jerking up a second later, he held his neck for a few more moments, expecting the worst. Quickly, he pulled his hand away from his neck, checking for blood. To his great relief, there was none, but the pain continued pulsing through his frame. After feeling around his neck, checking each time for the substance that he hoped wasn't there, he released a sigh of relief.

 _What the hell!_ He thought as he continued to rub his trachea, _This is not! What I call! A wake-up!_ Looking back up to the forest, he hoped to find something to blame for the unknown pain. To his dismay, he could see nothing that he hadn't already seen before or was out of place.

 _I swear the twins are taking this farther and farther each time,_ he continued to himself. Once again, quickly he darted his head around, searching for the two little bastards. However, unlike the last few times, neither of the two were present to laugh at his current discomfort.

This _slightly_ concerned him. Usually, the twins would be laughing up a storm, snapping pictures, and calling him stupid, as well as other various insulting things. It was this period of time in which he didn't have to deal with anything but their words; meaning, it was one of the _best_ times of the day. This is where his concern comes in. Since they weren't here at the moment, they were either planning another prank, off setting up a prank or harassing someone other than him _with_ a prank. Or there was the rare possibility that they had nothing to do with it.

Luckily, neither of them were present, so he decided to do a one in a lifetime thing, and give them the benefit of the doubt. Therefore, he tossed aside any ideas involving the twins, the twins pranks, and the twins insults. Instead, he switched his focus to other things that cause pain in the throat. Sickness would be one, also yelling, though he didn't remember screaming at anything worthwhile. He could cross out being hit, then there was swallowing the wrong thing, the lack of blood stated no cuts, flying objects of various speeds are always fun... Dehydration then?

 _I can't be dehydrated,_ he concluded, _I drank at least a half a liter of water before lea-,_ his thoughts were abruptly interrupted as the memories of the past day piled down on him. He stared into the forest with metaphorical dinner plates for what seemed like hours before abruptly dropping his head to his hands, shaking vigorously. _I cannot believe... I did that,_ he sighed mentally, then looking up to face the sky, "I cannot effing believe that!"

* * *

Looking into the mirror above his dresser, he couldn't help but smile at his appearance. He'd gotten all prettied up for his interview; shaving, showering, and brushing his teeth until his gums were raw were only a few things he did to make himself presentable. He had even gone out the day before and bought a brand new shirt, shoes, and pants just so that his clothes would have just as fresh a scent as he did, which if he didn't stay so himself, was unnecessarily fresh!

Grabbing up his comb, he began to style his hair, which was a bit more difficult than normal, considering he was using the small mirror in his room rather than the larger one in the bathroom. He considered his own actions; he was going to be wearing a hat anyway, so why did he need to do his hair? _What if the studio has a no hat rule? Then I'd have to take it off,_ he pondered to himself aimlessly.

Once he was satisfied with the style he had chosen, which was not really any different than it had been, due to his hair having a fixed wave and curl across his brow line and under his ears respectively, he set the brush down and looked himself over one last time.

"There, that should do the trick," he said happily, "I just hope they're not around to ruin it," his smile quickly being replaced by a scowl. And by 'they', he meant his younger twin brothers. How the hell they managed to do it he didn't know, or why all the people in the neighborhood ignored them.

"Everyone knows they're psychotic!" He yelled to himself, raising his clenched fists in emphasis. However, his anger died quickly and a small frown replaced his furrowed brow. _Well, they're not really psycho it's just... after..._ he couldn't bring himself to complete his thought.

It made him incredibly depressed and often reduced him to tears to think about his mother and father, even though she had died over four years ago and his father _committed suicide_ shortly after. Most of the problems that he was going through were because of his mother's passing. When he was fifteen years old, she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor had told his family that she had little over five months to live due to its severity.

That one statement alone was enough to send the rest of the family into denial. Their mother always seemed to be able to bring out the best in people, even when they didn't see it in themselves, and give them hope, which coincidentally, was her name. Even throughout her fight against the affliction, she attempted to help ease the burden on the rest of the family, reassuring them that they would awake the next day and see her breathing. However, on April 11th, one month after her- and his own- birthday, she died.

The worst part about it was that he had been the first one to find her passed. He had helped her the most over the course of the five months, their bond growing stronger than any of the other family members. More than often, he would find himself skipping school to care for her. But when her time came, he couldn't handle it, locking himself up for days on end, only coming out to fulfill his body's basic needs.

He was not the only one who took her death badly. His father also went into a deep depression, enough though they had not even been married for a full year. The twins were only ten at the time, so they didn't understand the full extent of the tragedy until they got older and understood more, but even then they acted differently.

The families' moods continued to deteriorate after her funeral. Sadly, most of the people who attended it were co-workers and other non-official family members. It still meant a lot to them though, seeing that there were some people who cared about their family. All in all, it was a normal funeral, mourn for the past, long speech commemorating the deceased, everyone wore black clothing and sat silently, until…

 _BANG!_

Their father had killed himself, at their mother's funeral. Everyone had seen him pull the gun out of his trench coat, it was just that with the tragic passing days before, no one was really alert enough to stop him. And by the time someone reacted, it was too late. Ironically, he fell into the grave along with their mother, 'eternally sealing' their marriage.

In their parents will, they had left the house and car to them, along with all the money that was in their savings, checking accounts, and remaining life insurance. Some of the old antique furniture that they had was given to various museums and people the brothers had never heard of. They had no direct relatives nor any good friends that they knew of, and for most of their lives, the family had been fairly independent. Unfortunately, with the death of their parents and nowhere to go to, the brothers had no choice but to stay in the house they currently lived in.

The money that was left to them was used to pay off the mortgage on the house and for utilities, thankfully their elderly neighbors helped them with that. When it came down to buying groceries and maintaining the house, he had to do it alone, since his brothers were still young and didn't know any more about the world than he did.

Eventually, he was forced get a job, adding additional strain to his life. Plus, to make his existence even harder, he still had school to attend, which made taking care of the house, his brothers, his school work, and his jobs more than he could bear, causing him to miss multiple days at a time. He was still only fifteen years old at the time, making his options even slimmer.

When he did find time to go to school, he was the main target for every one of the school's antagonists. Having no parents, failing his classes despite his intelligence, taking care of his brothers and the house, and having a job plus the fact that he was slightly smaller than most of the students at the time made him especially susceptible to attacks, people often calling him things like 'Housemaid' or 'Young Parent'. However, the majority of this hectoring ended when he hit his senior year, which during the summer beforehand, he had grown substantially, putting him a good five centimeters above the average person, him being a little under two meters.

He was not the only one who was being harassed in school. The twins were often picked on as well, people insulting them over the fact the since they didn't have any parents to love, they instead relied on their older brother. Despite the fact that these insults were made of cheese, the twins had just started middle school, making the insults effects just as bad. These simple comments affected their relationship with their brother to the point where they would spend whole nights away from the house just to prove that they _didn't_ need him; when they would go back, they would insult and beat up on him to further prove the point.

By the time they were the age they are now, the twins had learned to solve problems with their fists and harsh words. Their targets were mostly the weaker people in the school and their older brother. It had been happening for so long now that he wasn't affected by the twins insults and attacks against him. Most of the time they would simply try to mess up his room and steal his stuff, but on occasion, they would do something that only widen the rift between them even more.

He still cared for his brothers, taking the parental role in their lives was one way he had hoped to help them through the hard times. However, when he started to learn about the way people at their school were turning them against him, it was too late. He had tried so hard to tell them that it didn't matter what these people said and that he was only trying to help them, but these actions only proved the point of what the ruffians were saying, breaking their bonds even more, and even though they continued to harass him and push him harder, he still loved them and respected his mother's final wishes to care for and protect them.

 _I wish I knew where it all went wrong,_ he thought to himself, _j_ _ust so I could go back and fix it,_ finalizing his thought with an inward sigh. He hoped that they weren't in the house to hear what he had said only a minute before. Due to the fact that they would surely come up with some way to get back at him in the harshest way possible, be it physically or mentally.

He turned to his bedside desk and grabbed his wallet and car keys before heading for his door. He wanted to make it up to them more than anything else, it's just that every time an opportunity arose, he had no way to make it happen.

"And that's why I need this job so badly," he said continuing to mumble to himself. He had recently been offered a job at a studio that specialized in creating murals for big corporate companies. He had no idea how someone had recognized his abilities in art, mostly because he only drew and painted in private. It wasn't like he went around flaunting his artwork either, rubbing it in people's faces to the point of tears. However, he had sold a few of the paintings he made in an auction, but even that was anonymous.

He wondered how he would be able to contribute to the company's efforts. He never really thought of himself as an artist, he only really sketched on his notebook when he was bored, and even then most of those were drawings of mythical creatures, humanoids, and sceneries; hardly worthy of the likes of a big business. His ideas often came from his constant daydreaming and ridiculously active imagination. It was quite a common thing for him to spend several hours on one thought, creating dialogue, characters, landscapes to go along with the initial 'plotline'. Once the frenzy of ideas ceased, he would whip out his binder and start sketching.

He lingered on the thought while he continued to walk down the staircase. Just before the door was another mirror along with the coat and hat hanger. Swiftly grabbing his coat and hat off the hanger and putting them on, he looked at himself in the mirror, adjusting his hat and shirt collar a couple times to make sure they were in the most appealing appearance.

 _Heh, it's like I'm getting ready to dance,_ he chuckled. And even though that thought was completely wrong in every way, he couldn't help but smile; sadly he also couldn't remember the last time he had gone out to something that _wasn't_ formal. It pained him a bit to think about it.

"If I don't get this job… I don't know what we'll do," he murmured to himself, lowering his gaze slightly. He decided that the way he looked was more than enough to impress the manager he was going to see. In an attempt to brighten his own mood, he gave himself a quick click of the tongue and snap of the fingers. As much as this action didn't help, a small chuckle escaped his lips. _I never thought I'd be the one doing that,_ he thought with a smile, _e_ _specially to myself._ Then he slipped his shoes on and turned back to face the door.

He wore the same flax tan jacket that he had owned for over four years. He loved this jacket, almost more than he loved his parents, mainly because it was the last thing his mother had given him before she passed. Whenever we went outside, it came with him. It wasn't much, having small cuffs along the waist and wrists, as well as a medium length collar around the neck. It lacked a hood, though that didn't bother him considering the fact that he always wore a hat. A small zipper traveled all the way down the middle of the coat, allowing him the comfort of removing it on hot days. However, most of the time the coat was unzipped, as to allow the shirt he wore underneath to be seen. A pair of hand side pockets adorned the sides of the coat, buttons attached to each for to allow easy closing. But the thing that he loved most about this jacket was the fact that it had inside pockets! He always had something inside them, whether it be a thread and needle for fixing the darn thing, to basic school supplies, or even utensils. All these things could be easily carried around without causing the jacket to look inflated with junk.

Under his jacket, he had a clean walnut brown collared shirt. It wasn't anything special, no emotional backstory. Just a plain brown collared shirt that relatively matched the darkness of mud. In fact, the only thing that would make this shirt special would be the fact that it was new. However, despite it being rather ordinary, Kein was able to make it work with his outfit. All he did was take the collar and fit it over the neck of the coat, adding the illusion that the jacket itself had a collar.

The pants he currently wore were his favorite style of boulder gray khakis. Khakis were his pants of choice because of how loosely they fit while still providing him with warmth and protection. Even though he knew that jeans fit the toughness bill a lot better, he couldn't stand how tight they felt on his legs. Already from the clothing he was wearing, one could tell that he _loved_ unnecessary holding space. Whenever the rarely seen friendly bystander would ask him why he would respond with the completely bullshit answer of 'you never know what you'll find'.

To top the outfit off, he wore a pair of cheap running shoes and a plaid pattern driver's cap whose colors loosely matched the brown of his shirt. He thought that his outfit accentuated his blue-grey eyes and milk chocolate brown hair nicely. Other than that, what he wore was up to what was first in his dresser.

 _Perfect!_ He exclaimed in his mind, not wanting the slightest thing about his outfit changed. The dresswear was hardly formal, and one could almost call it casual. But to him, it fit all the necessary areas that an outfit should have: Warmth, Comfort, Utility, Durability, and _'_ _Style'_. Though, in all honesty, he had no idea about any type of fashion or if this even could be considered an outfit.

What he did know was that whenever he wore something like this around, his brothers they would call him a walking color palette. It didn't bother him so much that it was directly insulting his style of 'fashion', but rather the ways they went around suggesting ways to fix it. He shuddered as he remembered what happened last time he got dressed up. His brothers had managed to pin him to the ground and made him watch as they took sharpies and drew over every centimeter of his clothing.

Ignoring that thought, he took a step towards the door, though he stopped halfway through the motion to listen for the twins. Usually, if they weren't inside their room, preparing to do something mingy to a random passerby, they were outside throwing a ball around. After a few seconds of listening, he decided that they were not around. He put his hand on the doorknob and turned it.

Slowly, the door creaked out, the sound ringing throughout the house. He cringed slightly at the noise. _Well, if they didn't know I was leaving before, they do now,_ he grimaced as he walked out the front door, slamming it behind him.

Staring out into his yard, he took a cautious step out from the patio and into the cool morning air. Swiveling his head side to side, making sure he thoroughly searched every nook and cranny before making the hasty assumption that his psychotic siblings were not there. He then briskly walked to his car and unlocked it then reached over his shoulder and felt for his satchel. Cursing under his breath, he spun on his heels and ran back to the house, but not before checking for the twins again and locking the car door.

Snatching the satchel up, he rushed back to his car, skidding to a halt in front of the drivers' door. He fumbled with his keys to find the proper one to unlock it. Upon finding the correct key, he almost jumped in joy. However, as he hurriedly put the key in the lock and turned it, his name was shouted from behind him.

"Hey, Kein!"

The fact that he had been building up adrenaline in his haste, along with the sound coming from behind him was more than enough to make him jump. Slowly, he turned to see one of the two people he dreaded most.

"Yes, Tom?" Kein asked with a faint smile, hoping to talk the impish boy off of something violent.

"Where you goin'? Do you have a date to catch!?" Tom yelled. Kein would have laughed if it was anyone else, but instead only continued to smile.

"What's the matter? You look like you've seen a ghost!" The boy continued with a snicker, before reaching into the plastic bag he was carrying. He pulled out what appeared to be a small water balloon, but the contents gave the green balloon a sinister muddy-red tint.

"Wh-What's in the balloon?" Kein asked in a fearful tone. He wasn't the type of person who scared easily mainly due to his constant encounters with the local oppressors when he was younger, but when the twins were involved, he couldn't help but get a shaky leg. Tom only laughed as another voice entered the already declining conversation from the other side of the car.

"I thought you were good at solving puzzles, Kein." Kein whipped his head around to see none other than William striding towards him, "And you are right Tom! For what purpose are you so, _wonderfully_ , dressed up?"

"Oh, Wi-William, heh, I didn't see you there," Kein mumbled with fear prominent in his voice. William also had a bag in his hand, and he could only assume that it held balloons in it as well.

"Hey!" William erupted, "I recall telling you _not_ to address me by my full name?" William, no, Will was clearly furious at this comment. From what Kein could tell, there was no real reason why he disliked his full name, especially with him attempting to act all proper and with professional mannerisms.

"I have to agree with you on that one Will," Tom added, unnecessarily, "We did tell him… Once." Kein shot back around to face Tom who was now tossing the water balloon he held in the air, catching it, and then tossing it again.

"What do you think the punishment should be for such an obscene act?" Kein's blood turned to ice upon hearing this threat. Panic clear in his movements, he began to stifle a look at each brother.

"Only the most severe," Will stated with a deepened tone as he too grabbed a water balloon out of his plastic bag. Kein stared down the two brothers, roughly knowing their intent, he slowly moved away from the side of his car and back towards the front door.

"Come on now g-guys, do you r-really think this is necessary?" Kein choked, desperately hoping to talk his way out of his ugly situation. He had his arms outstretched, ready to start dodging projectiles if necessary.

"Oh, more than you appear to believe," Will laughed and looked towards his twin. Tom felt his gaze and looked back, smiling about what they were about to do. Looking back to Kein, the twins began to arch their arms back in preparation to throw.

"And release!" Will screamed and within nanoseconds of each other, the twins hurled their concoctions at the awestruck Kein.

Even though the projectiles were thrown at incredible speeds, Kein was more than expecting them. He swiftly dodged the first two balloons with a simple roll of his shoulder and a slide to the left. Taking a quick look behind him to where the first two balloons had landed, he saw, to his dismay, two very large paint stains. His eyes winded and a cold sweat found its way across his brow. Now fully realizing the twins' resolve, he slowly turned back around to face them. He could not, let them ruin this, not just because he needed to look presentable for a job, but also to keep his sanity.

Tom cursed as he watched his balloon miss and quickly pulled out another as Kein turned back to them. Will, on the other hand, saw the look on the older brothers face and smiled.

"What seems to be the issue Kein? Afraid of getting a tad soggy?" Will teased before he reached into his sack for another balloon. Once again Will and Tom tossed their balloons at the same time, only for them to be easily sidestepped by Kein once again.

Tom's anger was now clearly showing, he growled slightly before reaching into his bag for another balloon. This time instead of waiting for Will to get another balloon, Tom instead baseball pitched it as hard as he could towards Kein. Kein and Will both turned their attention to Tom, and as soon as the first balloon was thrown, and avoided, a second one followed closely. Will, seeing the new plan formed by his twin, put on a massive grin before turning back to his target.

Kein watched as Tom threw balloons at a consistent rate towards him. Each one was easy enough to dodge, in fact, the more Kein dodged the paint-filled projectiles the more confident he got and faster he dodged. Soon he had let cocky confidence get to him, and was now dodging the balloons in style as well as speed, smoothly shuffling to the left and right with the occasional duck, leap, or twirl. It seem like more of a game now than an attack.

Suddenly, a water balloon glanced the left side of his shoulder. He gasped and looked down to see that there was luckily no mark. Letting of a quick sigh, he turned to the direction the paintball was thrown from.

"I'm very disappointed that you almost forgot me, Kein," Will chided, "Next time I'll have to leave a mark for you to remember me by." And with that, he added his own paint to the overwhelming onslaught.

Sadly, the joy of living on a private drive was that there was no one, other than Kein and the twins, to witness the spectacle that was this one-sided paint balloon fight. Even though Kein knew that if someone else was around, they still wouldn't assist him. At least there would be the comfort of knowing that someone had an unbiased opinion to share with the authorities, if he were to call upon such drastic measures.

Over the course of the next five minutes, the two twin brothers continued to bombard Kein with every balloon they had. The constant attack had caused Kein and the twins to move away from the front door to their backyard and slightly into the forested area that was back there, all while Kein dodged and the twins threw. Unfortunately for Will and Tom, not one balloon had gotten remotely close to hitting him, other than the one that glanced his shoulder. Kein seemed to move with almost unnatural speed and dexterity, being able to get at least half a meter's distance between him and the thrown balloons before they were on the same horizontal plane as him.

Everyone Kein had ever met complimented him at his speed, and more than often these people would force him to use it, evading and running from all sorts of things, mainly school screw overs and dodgeball games, where he was the main target. Whenever someone would _politely_ ask him how he was able to act and react so quickly, he would simply shrug them off and say that he just ran a lot. In truth, he didn't really know how he was as agile as he was, it was just something that came naturally to him.

"I'm on my last one!" Tom yelled in Will's direction, holding up a singular balloon before hurling it at Kein. The balloon landed low in front of Kein and bounced off the ground back up at him. Tom watched as Kein nimbly bent back allowing the balloon to sail over him.

"Goddamnit Kein!" Tom shouted at the top of his lungs, he then turned to his brother with a glare that could frighten death. After throwing two more balloons and tossing his bag aside, Will stopped and held a single yellow balloon in the air.

"I never could figure out how you were able to dance around shit like this, Kein," Will said with an annoyed tone, losing any formality he had previously. "However, I'm certain that you won't evade this one!" He finished with a yell before crouching down and taking a full on charge at Kein with the balloon still held high in the air.

Kein already knew that the brother intended to tackle him and break the balloon over his face; he was not expecting the speed the brother charged. Kein was already winded from the previous seven minutes of dodging balloons, the thick layer of sweat that had accumulated at his hairline just under his cap as evidence. But despite the fact that he was drenched in sweat, he showed no signs of slowing down.

Kein new next to nothing about hand to hand fighting, or any other kind of fighting for that matter. The only time he had ever witnessed any fighting was on television when he _rarely_ watched wrestling, but he doubted that anything they did there had any relevance for what was about to happen. Before he could think about what to the do the twin was less than a foot away from him, already preparing to swing the balloon down on his head.

Without even thinking, Kein brought his left hand up and grabbed the twin's wrist. With the balloon successfully stopped and the twin's chest exposed he forcefully shot his knee upwards. As his bony appendage connected with Will's chest, he could hear the wind get knocked out of him. However, he didn't stop there. While the adolescent lurched forward, Kein pulled hard on Will's arm, causing the disoriented boy to be shot forward, allowing Kein to duck underneath Will's arm and bend it backward, sticking Kein behind him. In the blur of the moment, neither Kein nor Will could tell that this simple action was enough to dislocate Will's left arm, causing a sickening _pop_ to echo through the forest. Then, without warning Kein finished his takedown by kicking Will's backside as hard as he could, letting go of his arm in the process, knocking Will to the ground.

As Will lay on the ground, completely incapacitated after Kein's sudden backlash. Kein stared in disbelief, he had absolutely no idea where he had gotten the knowledge to do such a thing, let alone do it so quickly. However, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud roar of anger coming from behind him. Turning his head around quickly, he saw Tom, with an eleven-inch serrated knife in his right hand and a face showing the intent to kill.

Kein froze for an instant as he watched Tom charge him. Kein could visually see the anger and hatred he was currently feeling in his eyes, and it was obvious that Tom intended to do bodily harm. Any feeling of sentiment and caring towards his twin brothers instantly vanished, as well as anything he said about trying to make it all up to them. Dread like he'd never felt before washed over Kein, his legs and arms suddenly felt numb and his stomach was almost forcing him to vomit. It was at this point in time when his body's fight or flight response had kicked in, and after a brief thanking of deodorant he made his choice; it was pretty clear what it was.

Kein took off like a bullet in the opposite direction, which in this case was into the forest. Running like he'd never ran before, he flew his way over fallen logs and ditches. _I_ _have to get out of there!_ Kein thought to himself, _They've never pulled something like this!_ After stumbling on a rock, he quickly looked back to Tom who was still chasing him through the pine forest. _I've cared for them for four years! If this is their idea of repaying me... anywhere would be better than here._

It was the middle of winter, therefore there were a lot of pine needles on the ground along with the occasional patch of snow. These little patches of snow did not help Kein in his efforts to escape the mad twin, since they were frozen over with ice, causing him to slip occasionally. During one such fall, Kein used the time to look back again. He could still see Tom, but he was much farther away than last time and it looked like he was tiring out.

Kein had long lost sight of his house and was now running deeper and deeper in the woodlands. As he continued to run the patches of snow on the ground got larger and larger, making it harder and harder to walk straight. Looking over his shoulder every other second Kein could see Tom slowly fade away between the trees. Losing sight of the murderous bastard did not stop Kein from running, he knew that the twins had a tendency of sneaking up on people when they least expected it, then use that advantage to do their dastardly deeds, and when Tom was planning to, well, stab him, he did _not_ want him to have _any_ advantage.

After running for what seemed like hours Kein finally started to slow down, coming to a halt to catch his breath beneath a fallen log. He had no idea how far into the forest he was, nor did he know the direction in which his home was. So as an instinctual response, he did the one thing his mother told him to do in this situation. But upon looking up he gasped at what he saw. About a hundred meters from his current position was a very thick, very dense wall of dead trees and fallen branches that seemed to go on around all sides of the forest. He studied this wall for a minute before his eyes spotted what looked like a small path which lead straight into the more dense part of the wall of trees.

Suddenly, Kein heard his name being yelled. His eyes widened in fear as he quickly spun around to see none other than Tom still charging at full speed towards him.

"Kein!" Tom screamed at the top of his voice, his face red and nostrils flaring giving him an ever so more menacing appearance, "I'll hang you by your guts for that!" Still completely enraged at his own brother's downfall.

Upon hearing those words Kein went into a panic. He searched around frantically for a place to run to but found none that would conceal him. As Tom's screams got louder and louder, Kein's search for a place to run grew more and more desperate. Then, he remembered the path on the edge of the dense forest and turned to face it. He turned back to Tom who was getting closer by the second.

Without a second thought, Kein turned and dashed towards the trail. As he ran to the wall of trees he could hear Tom's frantic screams and shouts begin to fade again. He knew that Tom was yelling insults and death threats but he couldn't care less, he just needed to get to that path!

Fifty meters, forty, thirty. Once Kein neared the wall of woods he could hear his heart pounding in his chest, canceling out Tom's yells as well as any other noise. Twenty, fifteen, ten. As he got closer to the start of the path, he found it to be blocked by a rotting log, causing his hopes to drop slightly. Five meters, four, three. Taking one final deep breath Kein prepared to jump, his mind filling with both hope and dread as he thought about the outcomes.

Two, one, one-half, zero meters. Kein planted his right foot forward and pushed off with all his might. At first, he thought he wasn't going to make it. However, those fears were banished when his left foot came in contact with the rotted log. Giving himself a silent cheer, Kein pushed off the log and continued his panicked sprint, knowing that while Tom wasn't as limber as himself, he was a persistent little fucker.

 _CRACK!_

Kein's expression dropped faster than a fat kid begging for a Twinkie. As the rotted log gave way from underneath his feet Kein stuck his other leg out, hoping to catch himself. However, he only half succeeded. Landing hard, he started to stumble, attempting to re-catch himself several times before slipping and succumbing to the cold embrace that was the snow. Rolling a few times before coming to a stop, Kein couldn't help but scrunch up and moan as he lie on the sleet, and though it didn't hurt as much as he was portraying it, all that had happened in the last ten minutes made him feel like shit.

 _SNAP!_

Quickly sitting up, Kein barely saw the rest of the rotted log fall apart. A large puff of wood dust rising from the clearly eaten out tree, blocking his view of not only the snapped log but the entrance of the path he had come in from. Suddenly, a long groan echoed across the forest. Darted his head around, Kein searched for the sound of the noise. Sadly, he could not find the source of the sound, though that didn't stop his neck hair from standing on end.

He had only just realized it, but the forest has become eerily quiet. All the birds that had existed before had suddenly vanished, and the chilly winter wind had that been blowing no more than a minute before had stopped. It was so sudden, like how an area is left deserted when a predator appears. The absences of it all left Kein breathing hard, it was all so silent, so still, so… Frightening. And the subtle yet completely obvious sound of his breathing made it all the more unnerving.

Abruptly, another unearthly groan made its way around the trees, only this time it was accompanied by small creeks and cracking sounds. However, just as fast as it had come, it vanished, leaving a still startled Kein on the ground. Slowly, as if not to disturb the silence, Kein stood up. His focus was still trapped on the dust that clouded the entrance of pathway, as if he was waiting for something to jump out at him.

Suddenly, a dull _thud_ sounded from his right. Shooting easily half a meter into the air Kein landed hard on his back. But despite the pain of landing on the ice, he sat right back up again. Darting his head up, he scanned his vision across the bare icy canopy. The light filtering through the trees blinded him, but didn't stop his search. For what? He didn't know. He did know that something was there, watching him.

Then, he saw it. A small, black, raven.

A small smile spread across Kein face as he stared at the bird, which was perched delicately on a branch, high above his head. He contemplated laughing at his little panic attack. Though his fear had been real, he still thought it was a little unnecessary. Despite his now positive-ish attitude, he continued to stare at the raven. And after a while, he actually found the raven to be staring back. Its pure black eyes looked down at him, unmoving, staring deep, deep into him… evilly...

Kein's smile faded and his eyes refused to move, and neither did the raven's. They locked into a deep staring contest, neither side backing down in fear of losing, or in Kein's case, just fear. A cold sweat found its way across his brow, the soul-searching gaze of the raven only making him feel more and more uncomfortable. Then abruptly, the raven snapped its wings open and release a loud screech.

Kein watched the bird fly away, feeling slightly relieved, yet horrified. Slowly, he brought his eyes back down, letting them fall parallel with the frozen turf. He let his eyes naturally scour the rotted and dead tree trunks that surrounded him, though, the looked at them with more dread then he had a few minutes before. Thinking that the ominous signs of doom were finally over, Kein released a breath that he didn't know he had. Right as the last bit of air escaped his lungs, the world decided to prove him wrong.

"Where'd ya go Kein?! I want some of that _booty_!"

Needing no more than the first words worth of incentive, Kein shot up and dashed down the snow-covered path. As he came to the first curve, Kein took a quick peek behind him. What he saw was nothing less than terrifying. As if on cue, Tom burst from the lingering cloud of dust, knife first.

"Bitch! Where do ya think you're going?!" Kein had already turned away by now and was far around the first bend in the path. He knew that wouldn't help him, and judging from the fact that the remark sounded like it was less than a meter away from him; Tom was a lot closer than he thought.

Kein swiveled around fallen logs, jumped over surfaced roots, squeezed between dead bushes, and avoided patches of mud as Tom continued to chase him down the snowy trail. Kein had _greatly_ underestimated Tom's endurance, not that he thought he was going to get away from the furious twin easily anyway. In a way, a slightly demented way, he was proud of his brother. Knowing that he may one day become a professional athlete and that his future was not going down the drain. However, this thought was mostly clouded of images of Tom shackled down to the floor in the middle of a psychiatric hospital while the staff prodded him with tasers in a feeble attempt to keep him restrained.

" _Shit!"_ Was the only word Kein's mind could process as he fell to his knees, skidding along the snow for a meter or two before launching himself back to his feet, barely ducking under a low hanging, icicle covered tree branch. _Oh god, that was close,_ his thought process continued, _Way, way, too close…_

No sooner did Kein finish his thoughts did another sharp curve in the pathway appear. This one seemed a lot more prominent than the last one, and as he neared the bend, he found out why. As soon as he rounded the corner, another, slightly less perceptible path branched off from the main one.

Making a near split-second decision, Kein dove for the new path, hoping that its more concealed nature would be enough for Tom to bypass. Even though this new route gave a better guarantee of safety, it did pose a problem. Since it was not as weathered as the main trail, the trees and shrubs that inhabited the forest were overgrown and as he got further and further in, he was forced to crouch-run the rest of the way. With one final push, Kein shoved his way through the last of the small shrubbery.

Now that he was free from the forest Kein fell to his knees. He had to admit, Tom had given him quite the run in, most likely the best one he'd had for quite a while. It actually disappointed him to find out that he was that out of shape. However, he had no time to dwell on these facts, so instead, he busied himself by getting to his feet and covering his eyes from the light of the sun.

Slowly pulling his fingers away, Kein couldn't help but recoil in awe. He had landed himself in the middle of the most pristine glade he had ever seen. It was perfect, the grass that covered the ground was lush and just as green as the most artificially created color. The leaves that covered the bushes, which were scattered aimlessly yet orderly across the clearing, where a miracle in their own. The morning dew that coated the plant life only added to the atmosphere, making it all glint and glitter as the light hit the small droplets, giving each blade the slight impression of a rainbow. Any rocks that were found in the small meadow were also worthy of notice. Moss covered each of the stones right sides, acting as living masks for the dull grey hidden beneath.

Slowly bringing his eyes away from the ground, Kein brought his gaze up to the canopy. The tree line alone was a world of its own. Light filtered down through the sporadically placed holes in the branches, each beam tilted a completely different direction than the rest, giving the hidden glade an even more mystical appearance. The invisible particles that invaded the clearing only giving the light more depth and adding to the mystery surrounding the meadow. The pine needles that held on delicately to the branches of the trees almost shimmered on their own, the light cascading off each needle, creating a sea of diamond-like glows for all to enjoy. And the bark of the trees held all the beauty together with its tough though soft looking appearance.

Eventually, Kein found himself walking carelessly into the glade, though his pace was rather slow. His eyes took in every new detail as he continued forward, like how the clearing was perfectly round and was at least twenty meters in diameter. There were also two carefully placed pine trees in the middle and a completely flat slab of stone that lay between said trees. The most important, and shocking, detail of this place was the fact that the ground was clear; not a single flake of snow could be found.

Upon realizing this, Kein stopped. During his mindless walking, he had almost made it to the center of the meadow, since he had ended up no more than a meter away from the stone slab. Winter, apparently, was a nonexistent thing in this small clearing. Snapping out of his almost trance-like state, Kein dropped his gaze to the ground. He then proceeded to scrunch up his nose, lean forward, hold his hand out with the palms facing the sky, and say the one word that was consuming his mind.

"Wha...?" Was all he managed to get out, and for a few more seconds he stared... Only for his thoughts to be interrupted by the dreaded.

"I think you know what…"

The icy bite of the arctic abruptly formed in Kein's veins. However, he did not react immediately; alternatively, he continued to gaze deep into his wet shoes. Little did Tom know that Kein was contemplating. Contemplating whether or not he should _fight back_. He had been running for easily ten minutes now, he had almost face planted _twice_ , and now that Kein looked it over, he had also ruined his outfit! All this was in fear of Tom brandishing a knife that he most likely didn't know how to use? This is ridiculous! He's the adult here! He shouldn't be running from a fourteen-year-old with anger issues! What he should be doing it marching over there and bitch slapping Tom till his cheeks swap places!

Kein snapped out of his thought bubble to find himself subconsciously nodding to his own idea. Letting his arms fall limp at his sides Kein leaned back up, attempting to make his back as straight as possible. Flexing his fingers, Kein rethought about what he was about to do. He was going to tell Tom to fuck off. Tom, the epitome of hatred! This was a _perfect_ idea! Zero flaws! Completely polished! The plan of the century! History worthy! Going down in the books! Best. Choice. _Ever_. One hundred percent intelligent decision!

Once again Kein found himself nodding like a moron. Taking a deep breath, Kein folded his hands together, touching the tip of each index finger to his mouth. He took one last look at the flat stone in front of him before releasing his hands, letting out a long sigh, and turning around.

"Tom," he began. However, as the younger sibling came into view Kein lost all will to continue.

He was standing at the entrance of the grove covered in mud. Like, _buried_ , in mud. From head to toe, mud. Under his shirt? Mud. On the left side of his face? Mud. In his pants? Mud. Shoes? Mud cakes. Arms? Mud sticks. Mud fingers. Mud hair. Mud underwear? Most likely. There were even twigs and pine needles sticking out of every possible orifice in the mud! He was a walking patch of dirt! However, no amount of filth could cover the pure expression of hate that adorned his face. Kein stood there speechless. This is not at all what he had expected. He knew that he had given Tom the temporary slip, but not literally!

 _Aw, that's got to be cold,_ Kein subconscious thought for him. Unfortunately, his brain was still on the sentence from before. So like the awestruck idiot he was, Kein continued.

"...That scowl looks really fitting," he finished before snapping his mouth shut. He then shoved his hands in his pocket and began rocking back and forward. "Yeah… Exactly what I meant to say," he added abruptly, nodding idiotically the entire time.

A low growl from Tom caused Kein to stop his motions. As the twins expression continued to darken, Kein found himself eyeing Tom up and down. He was looking for two things. The first being any signs of movement. The second being the eleven-inch knife from before. Glancing down to the brother's hands, Kein noticed the shaking outline of what he assumed was the device of nightmares, and as more of the brown substance dripped off the object, a small glint of silver only confirmed his suspicions. As if reading his mind, Tom flicked the blade downwards, removing the larger globs of mud from the edge with the one motion.

"Oh, I still have it," he said, bluntly restating the obvious. "Though, I think you should take it Kein, after all, you already seem so good with your hands," Tom finished, flipping the dagger over in his palm until the blade was firmly held between his thumb and forefinger.

The bitter sarcasm hit Kein like a truck and his _marvelous_ idea from before resurfaced. This is why he had never, _ever_ tried to tell off his younger brothers before. Tom would just flip shit and start ripping apart the closest pillow like a wild animal and William would come up with a comeback so sour that it made him look like a dumbass and that it was his fault in the first place! And to think, he was about to tell Tom to fuck off! Hilarious! Regardless, his response came the instant Tom finished his speech.

"Nope! No! That's okay Tom! I think the knife should stay with you… In your hands… Where it belongs… Forever." At this point, Kein couldn't help but fidget.

"But, Kein," Tom began, adding a fake tone of sadness, "I thought presents from family members should hold special places in your heart."

Yup! Fidgeting. That's the word. Definitely not small jump of absolute terror and nervousness that could only be described at panic!

"No, Tom you're absolutely right!" Kein half shouted, absolutely paralyzed at what Tom was subconsciously suggesting, "However, I'd rather keep special things like that in my memory," Kein added nodding vigorously. However, he lost all hope once he noticed Tom's wicked grin.

"Oh, so ya mean like in your head?" He asked, with the smile of the devil sat upon his face, "I like that idea much better," he finished, shifting his right leg back.

Kein couldn't decide what to be more worried about. The fact that Tom was more than threatening to kill him, or that he had gotten out-witted by the twin. Honestly, the second thought was _way_ more worrying than the first, because a Tom, with any shred of logic and reasoning skills would easily be able to take over the general area, if not the next one as well.

"Are you ready Kein?" Tom asked sadistically, beginning to cock his arm back, "I'm gonna give my present to you!" This comment got Kein's full, undivided attention and as the graveness of the situation settled in Kein took a step back.

 _FUCKS!_ Many fucks! As the absolute understatement filled Kein's mind he felt his right heel hit something hard. Snapping his head around for a split second, he found himself gazing upon the smooth rock from before. This was a minor detail, and upon turning his head back around Kein was presented with Tom, arm fully pulled back, slightly dirtied knife ready for flight.

"Enjoy."

Kein's mind went blank. All he could look at was the silver gleam of the blade as it left Tom's hand. Without the consent of his brain, Kein body acted out on its own. His right leg whipping back only to be stopped by the rock that was and continued to be, a rock. The slight momentum caused by the action was enough to get his upper body moving. The sudden stop was also enough to end his legs moving. It was this influx of motion that began the toppling of Kein.

Despite this, Kein's body was ready, and completely out of instinct his body began to twist around. Upon completing half a rotation he stuck his left leg out and for the second time that day attempted to catch himself. It was about this time in which the preciseness that is instincts ran out, and Kein was left in a downhill situation that was leading to a cliff.

Each step he controlled only sent him deeper and deeper into the pit that he had dug for himself. However, the determination to avoid the dagger that was currently _flying directly at his face_ was enough to keep him aloft. He knew that the distance between him and the knife was decreasing and if he didn't do anything about, Tom's 'gift' would be received.

This is when the mistake were made. Having gained more control over his movement, Kein tried to make a mid-step change. While this motion had accomplished its initial goal, it also added to the inverse movement that was him falling over. Abruptly, Kein left foot bent sideways at the ankle, causing him to lose his balance and start the tripping process all over.

However, before Kein could do any more, something to his left caught his attention. In the slowed down version of the world that he was current in, he managed to catch a glimpse of the steel blade that was Tom's bowie knife. The object soared past his right ear before coming to a dead stop in the trunk of the pine tree next to him. This alone was enough to steal away all of Keins focus. He had avoided Tom's present! Success! Death was no longer a viable thing to be afraid of!

But as Kein's right foot made contact with the ground, he was reminded of the current situation. Without looking he attempted to straighten out the landing of his right foot. Sadly, all he managed to do was catch his left leg behind his right, causing him to completely fuck up and fall. In one last ditch effort Kein pushed off with his right foot, launching himself forward. As he turned the rest of his head around to face his landing point, a small, hardly formed grimace dawn on his face before...

 _WHAM!_

His legs shot out from underneath him and his body pivoted on the spot. Getting a good second of air time before smashing back down to the rock below. The last thing he heard of the caw of a raven before he fell into unconsciousness without a second thought.

* * *

Kein gasped as another wave of pain shot through his body. He laid on the earth for a good minute before he found the strength to sit back up again, his throat still burning from his outburst. He slammed the hand that wasn't holding his throat to the ground, crushing the helpless blades of grass under his palm.

 _How could I not see that!_ He yelled to himself inwardly, in fear of causing more pain from his still aching vocal cords. He dropped his head to his hands again and shook. He had _clotheslined_ himself, c-l-o-t-h-e-s-l-i-n-e-d, on a low hanging tree branch. That was the _embodiment_ of ignorance! Like a cartoon, make you laugh, this isn't real life kind of stupid!

"Not only did I do something as stupid as that," Kein continued, scolding himself, "I also _tripped_ and knocked myself out on a rock!"

Realization hit Kein in waves and he darted his head around. This was _not_ the clearing from before. For one, it wasn't nearly as enclosed at the one from before, here one could see the sky; while the other meadow was shrouded in trees. That there was another missing fact, this glade had no trees in it. On a further note, the rock that he had fallen unconscious on was nonexistent. The only things that were the same were the wall of trees on all sides and the lack of snow.

He recalled the sky from before, and its… stereotypicality… He had yet to gaze upon it again, due to his little incident of pain a few moments before. So taking the time, Kein looked up. Like before, nothing major had changed; yeah, maybe a couple clouds had moved, but other than that, it was all relatively the same. Then, he noticed the sun; it was setting.

How could the sun be _setting_!? It was nine A.M. when he left! Was he really unconscious for that long? There was no way! There couldn't be… He had just bumped his head. A simple bump!

Recovering from the shock, Kein slowly went over all the 'what ifs' that were flying through his head. There were quite a lot of them, each as unlikely as the next, but after some 'careful' consideration, he left himself with four. Even these three all stretched realism a bit, and the more he thought about them, the less he liked his options.

The first idea was that he had gotten up in his unconscious state and _walked_ out of the glade and back into the forest outside his house. Several things prevented this from being true. First, there was no snow, enough said. Second, the forest outside his house was comprised of pine trees. Looking up from his thoughts he examined the forest surrounding him to make sure that he was indeed not in the pine forest. To his dismay, he wasn't. The last thing was the most obvious; Tom was not there. That alone was enough to send his brain into a hissy fit. Really, where did he go? He did just nod off and leave? No, he couldn't have. Especially when his… _present_ , was a failure. Yet poof! Gone! Nonexistent! The last place Tom was, well, with him, in the glade. However, Tom wasn't here, and the circle of trees he was in was certainly _not_ the meadow from before. So, that begged the question, where did Tom go? Or more importantly, where did he go?

Ignoring that unnerving though he moved on to his next idea. He could still be in the glade, just he was still out cold and dreaming up the place incorrectly. Quickly, Kein lifted his right arm off the ground.

 _Well if this is a dream, it's a bit too real for my taste._ After the thought the brought his other hand around and pinched himself. Kein winced as he felt the sharp pain ran up to his head before dying off. No, it wasn't a dream, or at least not a normal one. Kein smiled despite, this knowing that the calm would remain for a while longer.

His last thought was the one he disliked the most, and that after he'd gotten clotheslined by the branch and knocked senseless, he died, or Tom had found his unconscious body and stabbed him. Both of these ideas sent a shiver down his spine. After all, he's done in his life and all the things that have happened to him, he gets repaid with a knife in his back.

 _If this is what death is like, it doesn't seem that bad,_ he finished the thought with a slight smile which then faded to a frown; well knowing that he wouldn't see anyone from his home if he was dead. But, if he was dead, then wouldn't he be able to see his parents again? Slightly surprised at the thought. Kein darted his head around to see if he would suddenly see his mother pop out of the forest and thank him for all that he's done, but after a minute of waiting, she didn't come.

With depression taking over, Kein couldn't help but feel like he had done something wrong, something to deserve this. The more he thought about it the harder it was to shake the thought from his head. So as a response, he raised his hands to his temples and began to rub, the soothing pressure taking his mind away from the sorrow.

"At least I don't have to deal with it right now," he sighed to himself, running his fingers through his hair, scratching his scalp as they went. His throat still felt numb, though for a different reason. The pain from before had been replaced with the nagging sensation in the back of his mouth that he could only identify as thirst. Smacking his lips comically a few times, he looked around for any immediate source of water. Sadly, he didn't spot any, though he did find the two other things that he wanted.

Slowly standing on shaky legs, Kein hobbled over to his hat and satchel. They had landed no more than a meter and a half away from him, but the small trip finally made him realize how much the rest of his body ached. His ankles had a slight twinge to them causing him to sit back down once he reached his stuff. The back of his head still burned and as he reached on hand back, he felt the unmistakable bump caused by impact.

However, his focus was drawn by a small glint slightly further down the hill. Squinting slightly, he leaned forward, attempting to get a better look at the object. One more flash of light and the reality smacked him in the face. It was Tom's knife. Still covered in mud.

 _Well, at least one thing is correct,_ he thought, slightly satisfied yet even more so confused. This alone completely threw away his first idea. If the knife was there; Tom couldn't be far behind.

Forgetting the blade for the moment, Kein reached down and picked up the satchel, then pulled the strap around his neck and secured it tightly. To say that his satchel was full would be an understatement; his binder, sketchbook paper, a few pencils, as well as a pen, couple erasers, a simple pocket knife, and duct tape, were only a handful of things that were stored in its seemingly endless depths. Kein began to rifle around, hoping to find a bottle of water to quench his need for water. Sadly, he found none, then proceeded to silently cursed himself for forgetting something so essential.

Abruptly, the sheen of the steel knife caught his attention again. Ignoring the pains, Kein stood up and proceeded to hobble over to the glittering dagger on the ground. The trip was slightly easier than the last, not as much pain in the ankles. Though this time, he was a bit more, cautious. The last thing he needed was for Tom to come back and jump him like a crazed monkey.

Upon reaching the object, Kein couldn't help but stare. It was Tom's knife alright; same serrated edge, same custom hook point, same spiked handguard and pommel, same… Red ribbon hilt… Yeah… All of these features might have been more menacing had it not been covered in mud still. Slowly bending down, Kein wrapped his hands around the handle. He didn't really care that the mud from the hilt was now on his hands, he was more concerned about how it got here.

Yeah, sure, he was _slightly_ troubled about how _he_ had got here, but that was a completely different type of situation. He was a human, he could move on his own, regardless or not if he was aware of it. This was a knife. Inanimate entity. Can't move unless something else pushes it. If he had found himself in an entirely _new_ area that, from what he could tell, was _nowhere_ near the meadow from before, how was Tom's knife here? Shouldn't it still be in the glade from before?

Suddenly, a thought occurred, and he pulled his binder out of his satchel, laying the knife down in the grass. Opening it, he flipped to the first tab, which was the personal index he had put in; instead of showing the page numbers, it had a simple description of what the drawing on the page was. Kein flipped through the tabs until he came upon the tab that was labeled 'Nature' then flipped to a side one called 'Scenery'. Whenever he would enter a foreign area he would draw a simple picture of its surroundings. He checked the page before looking up to the forest, checking if it matched. The only ones that seemed to get remotely close were the pictures he drew when it was early autumn, but even then those were only borderline. Kein closed the folder and stuffed it back in the satchel. He looked back to the forest ahead and sighed.

 _As much as I would love to, it's not really the best time._ Reaching over he grabbed his hat, brushed off the dirt and put it on. Glancing over to the dagger Kein stopped. It was the object that had almost killed him, should he really take it with him?

Shrugging, Kein snatched up the large blade, wiping it through the grass to remove any remaining mud particles. He then found the flap that contained his ruler and slid the blade next to it. A least he'll have some form of defense against this, unknown land. He stood up and shook his legs in an attempt to get the stiffness out. After a good minute of brushing himself off and checking for any more pains, he straightened up and looked into the forest ahead.

After a few moments of quick thinking and a peek over the tree line, Kein decided to head in the direction that he thought was west, due to the fact that that was the direction his house was relative to the forest behind it. He had been sitting in the clearing for quite a while and the sun was now setting, casting his shadow behind him as he looked into it. Breathing a sigh of content, he set off in his prescribed direction, with his satchel over his shoulder, and the wind to his back.

His first thought was the forest was some kind of botanical garden, due to the fact that all the bushes and trees around the clearing he was in were very nicely shaped and clean. However, this all changed as he walked deeper into the brush. The trees began to become more dense, causing their branches to interlock, effectively blocking out the sun. The small shrubs also changed into mangled bushes as they started talking up more and more of the forest floor, often grabbing his pants legs causing him to stumble.

After an hour of walking through the dense forest, he came across a small stream. Is wasn't that big, and if he wanted to he could simply step over it, but his mouth begged for relief. Slowly bending down, Kein dipped his hand into the stream. The water was cold to the touch and was crystal clear. After staring at the water for a good minute, debating whether or not he should drink from a foreign and possibly contaminated stream, he shrugged.

 _It can't be any worse than a coffee mug full of laxatives._ And with a dip of the head, he took long, greedy swigs from the small fulfilling his body's need for water Kein took a 'for the heck of it' drink, sloshing the water across his tongue and the roof of his mouth. This was the first time he had actually _tasted_ the water, and to his disbelief, it was rather sweet. Confused by the water's taste, he cupped his hands to take another taste of the water, and once again the water had a slight essence of sweetness.

After a few more sips of the clear liquid, he stood up and brushed the dirt off his pant legs. He looked up and down the river, trying to see if there were any more connecting to it. Surprisingly, there were no other streams connecting to the one he was standing next to. Still, Kein did notice that the stream started to widen as it flowed.

 _Well, if it's getting bigger, that means it's getting extra water from somewhere,_ Kein deduced with a confident grin. Kein followed the flowing stream for another thirty minutes. As it started to get bigger, he started to notice more small rivers connecting to the one he was following.

 _Have I been following the main outlet of the river?_ He pondered as the river continued to gain strength from the little looked to the other side of the river he was following, it had to be at least six meters across by now, but that wasn't the only thing he noticed. The small stream that he was following before had very pure, very clear water, and despite its new size and increased flowing rate, it had retained that quality. He could see all the way to the bottom of the river, and with a quick crouch and a cup of the hands, he confirmed that the current also kept its sweet taste.

As the sun sank lower into the sky, Kein began to grow tired, no doubt from his escapades earlier in the day. He had been following the steadily growing stream for some time, and from what he could tell, it was the main river. He bent down for a quick drink. The cool, sweet water trickled down his throat, soothing his neck. Kein sat for a minute soaking up the sounds of the forest. Ever since he left the clearing birds and small animals started to make their appearance, making twittering calls and small squeaks. Kein continued to listen to the animals, their abundant calls filling his ears, as well as the gurgling of the stream he sat next to.

Slowly he began to doze off, the forest sounds now dull and far away. Unconsciously, Kein shifted into a more comfortable position, this action caused his right hand to fall into the water, chilling it instantly and causing him to be snapped awake by the sudden cold.

"Gaaah!" He screeched, shaking his hand wildly to get the water off before wrapping it up in his pockets. His sudden outburst stopped all the other sounds that were coming from around him. The only thing he could hear was the lapping of the water against the shore, but as he concentrated on the water, he thought he could hear it pick up speed.

Continuing to rub his arm, Kein looked up from the river and turned to his left. From what he could see, the water ahead hastened before making a sharp turn to the right. Confused, he sat up to get a better look at the river. Taking a few steps forward, he stopped and listened again, the water was definitely accelerating. With a tired groan, he continued to walk along the river.

 _I need to find a place to rest soon,_ he thought, yawning. As he stumbled carelessly across the shore, Kein noticed that the farther he went the faster the water flowed. _Is there a waterfall nearby? Don't know what else could be causing this._ And as he rounded the corner of the river, he was met by the roaring sound of water against stone. As he climbed up the side of the hill next to the river, a grin slowly appeared across his face before turning into a full-blown smile.

"Hah!" Kein exclaimed, "Well isn't this a sight!"

As he stood on the top of the cliff face, Kein marveled at the sight that was laid before river he was following had turned into a waterfall, this waterfall then connected to a larger body of water. This new river was more than three times the size of the one he was next to, and from the cliff he was standing on, he could see the rest of the forest in front of him, watching it stretch out for kilometers.

The new river flowed at a slow steady pace, seeming to not be affected by the addition of the water from the falls. The water was just as crystal clear as the river next to him, and even from the cliff he was standing on, he could see the bottom. The slow-moving water reflected the light from the sun, giving it a diamond-studded surface. The beaches that stretched along its shore were comprised of sand that seemed to get its color from the sun itself, as the yellows that it was made of shined in the golden light. The trees that covered the river banks looked as if they were the same as the one less than two meters away from him, but it was difficult to tell in the fading light of the sun.

Drawing his attention away from the scenery, Kein noticed a small shore near the bottom of the cliff face. Before he had the chance to think about what to do next another yawn escaped his mouth.

"As good a place as any I suppose," he mumbled sleepily. Slowly, he shuffled his way down the cliff, being careful not to slip on the slightly wet stone. Luckily, there was a small path that lead in a criss-cross pattern down the side. Reaching the bottom he walked down onto the beach, studying the smooth water. To his surprise, the river had changed its color. Now instead of being a crystal blue, it was a clean, shiny silver.

"Hm, the Silver River," Kein thought aloud with a smile, clearly happy with himself at the simple name. Turning his back to the river, Kein strode back to the forest. He searched for a suitable place to rest for the night. Letting some of the cliche instincts inside guide him, he went and gathered some large leaves from a fern that grew on the side of the river. Placing the fern leaves between a crack made by two tree roots and were close by, he flopped down and closed his eyes. His body was physically exhausted from the day's worth of walking but his mind continued to race, still attempting to comprehend the sights he had seen and the events that had passed. However, the day had taken his toll, and slowly, but surely, he succumbed to the peaceful embrace of sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Congratz! You just read 13,209 words!**

 **Ssethelis: For those of you who can't commit to anything. Stop here.**

 **Thanks for being a pessimist! You would not believe how much I absolutely love it! Ass. Anyways! This is it. You have successfully read the first chapter! Trust me when I say they get easier from here on.**

 **Ssethelis: I'd give you a cookie, but that's the browser's job.**

 **Truth to that. I want to thank everyone who read this. It makes me happy to know that people still care about the Spyro series. Cause you know, Skylanders and shit.**

 **If any of you people have questions about the first chapter, or if you noticed a mistake, because, I can with 100% accuracy tell you that there will STILL be mistakes despite the fact that Sseth and I went over this countless times, message me NOT on this account, but on my personal one at MakeSureToKnock.**

 **Ssethelis: Just remember, any postive feedback is like stroking his dong.**

 **Less truth but hey! Whatever works. Once again, thanks to you all for this.**

 **MakeSureToKnock and Ssethelis**


	2. A Life With Few

**A/N:**

 **And as promised. CHAPTER TWO! It was a bit late in the day, and for that I am sorry. However, I do partially blame it on leaving in the middle of the day to go shooting with Hacodeman. First time. Scoped myself… yeah. Anywho! I hope you all enjoy this installment!**

 **Hacodeman: Yay, I sort of helped with this one :P, also watching Knock scope himself was pretty funny.**

 **Well at least I took it well. Though damn, that hurt! Now the bridge of my nose is bruised! I just hope I don't sleep on it tonight. On a further note, Sseth did help me with this. He just wasn't there at the time of the authors note. Hopefully he'll be here for the next.**

 **Hacodeman: Sseth is a smelly.**

 **Yeah, he does stink of fry oil a lot of the time. However, I can't really blame him. Despite the fact! It's still nice to have his input. Though, when he was over this weekend, we did kind of fuck about more than actually edit, or, at least he did.**

 **Alright enough of my rambling! Most people don't read these anyway. But regardless! For those who do! It's time to enjoy Snapple fueled, pizza powered, cupcake energized writing! Enjoy!**

 **Oh, shit wait. Right. Disclaimer. I own nothing... save for my OCs. So you know, like Spyro, Cynder, apes/grublins, the world, and shit. Not mine. Everything else! Yeah, I guess I have rights.**

 **Also**

 **How do you know when you're badass? When you can make minute rice in 59 seconds!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: A Life With Few**

The sun shone through a small hole in the wall, illuminating the dusty, dimly lit cave with its blinding beams. Slowly, it began to creep its way farther into the darkness, lighting up the stone floor as it went. Eventually, it gleamed upon a large patch of animal furs and soft moss, all piled onto a bump. During the sun's unstoppable journey, the light found itself blanketing the top of the mound, brightening the thick overlay of hair and plants.

The mound shuffled slightly before being pushed to the left and a low, muffled, groan could be heard. Abruptly, the hill of nature was thrown into the air, all of its furs gliding down softly as the moss bounced around the cave; coming to a halt within the second. In the middle of the now empty space, a black and white quadruped could be seen lying on its side; its tail curled around the rest of its body while the wings covered its legs.

Ellix, who was barely awake, stirred out of his dreamy state, opening his maw wide before letting another yawn escape. He sighed, having been awoken from a very pleasant dream, in which he was flying around Avalar, by himself, _alone_. These kinds of dreams came often, mainly because it was what he wanted the most. But sadly, he was confined to his part of the cave, with his 'fantastic' family, only getting out when he was hunting beside his father, and even that was more akin to a stealthy march.

The sun remained, pestering his closed eyes, following them no matter what direction he faced. Ellix slowly stretched his limbs, starting with the front left forearm. Once he heard a satisfying pop, he went to the next leg, continuing the process until all five appendages were unstiffened. He then cracked his eyes open, just to close them from the bright light. It wasn't until after a few more attempts to open them did they dilate to a comfortable level.

Ellix rolled onto his stomach, licking around the edges of his mouth to remove the unwanted salvia that clung there. Eventually, he stood up, once again moaning, but not before bending his back inward, giving him a cat-like appearance. Next, his wings, which were drooped lifelessly at his sides. Giving them a quick flap, he returned feeling to them while simultaneously blowing the remaining moss to the walls of the cave.

Still tired, he sat on his haunches, and with one paw Ellix wiped the remaining rheums from his eyes. His maw hung agape, and as he breathed through it, the morning air filled his lungs. Some of the particles of air filtered back through his throat and back into his nose, causing Ellix's already stuffy mind to be instantly filled with the scents of surrounding creatures. One scent in particular gained his interest, that of fresh meat. The smell of food was enough to snap him out of his daze. Apparently, his father had caught a few deers, somehow, and as usual they didn't openly invite him for breakfast. With an irked huff Ellix got to his feet, and proceeded to turn to the entrance of his portion of the cave system his family lived in. However, before he could progress, a loud, but higher pitched voice emanated from down the tunnel.

"Ellix!" His older sister, Cera, shouted with vexation from the dining area, "Get your tail down here before dad eats all of your kill!" Cera was only a year older than him, at eighteen, and was the only dragon who treated him like a _prank toy_. Because apparently, he was easily tricked and had the best reactions. She was also an absolute nag at the best of times, which didn't help her relations with him in any way.

"I'm serious Ellix, he's not too keen on sharing right now! About half of it is gone!"

As much as he wanted to use one of his many witty retorts, his stomach rumbled, annoyingly agreeing with his older sister. However, he could do something to get back at her, for no reason, of course, but hey, she's irritating. Luckily for him, it was at this point in which an idea, a cruel, but not too callous, idea came to his mind. It was simple, and he got to do his favorite thing, using his element.

Slowly, Ellix dropped into a crouch. His right hind leg scratching the rock as he 'revved up' in preparation to sprint. Springing from his crouched position, he burst through the tunnel at high speed; the scent of venison filling his nostrils as he got closer and closer to the central cavern. Once the light of the outside world bounced across the walls around him, Ellix used his elemental power, dipping into the realm of shadows.

From the shrouded silhouettes of the dark he could see his family, mother, father, and sister. Each one in their respective places around the reasonably fresh kills. He could vaguely hear them talking; it sounded as if someone had stuffed a pelt into their mouths and was lying on their chest, but despite these impairments, he could clearly understand what they were saying, having had years of practice.

"Whe- wil-… learn t-… ge- here fas-… -er?" Berated one of the three muffled blobs, which was sprawled carelessly on its side, therefore, he knew it to be Cera. Sadly, he had not thought out the rest of his plan, at least up to this point. Most of the time ideas would just come. However he had just woken up, causing his mind to be more lethargic than usual. He desperately wanted to pop up, drag her into the realm with him, and _leave_ her there; hopefully teaching her to _not_ shout at him. Unfortunately, taking another living thing with him would use too much elemental energy, so he devised another scheme.

"I don- kn-..., but… h- wan-...-s an- he- hav-...-e to get he-...-re so-," one of the other silhouettes replied, "or yo-... fat-...-er wil- ea-...-t it al-," his mother quipped, before the blobs turned to face the other, slightly larger blobby shadow.

"Wh-mphf?" His father tried to speak up, his face obviously stuffed with meat, making him much harder to understand in general.

Ellix heard muffled laughter come from the two females, and soon after it started he found himself snickering as well, no matter how much it went against his normal posture. Having used the short time to finalized a plan, Ellix just sat and watched; minimizing the amount of energy used while he awaited the proper time to execute.

"It- tw- aga-...-inst on-," his father lamentably stated, only causing more giggles from the other family members. "Ell- hurr-! I-... ne-...-ed yo… hel-!" The larger dragon finished shouting down the cave with gusto. His father wasn't young, but neither was he old. Somehow, he had found a way to get the perfect median, causing him to be incredibly light hearted yet serious and protective when he felt the need.

Ellix just listened to the chatter with a devilish grin, they had no idea that he was right there, which pleased him immensely, maybe a little too much. And not soon after his father's shouts, the family members returned to their meal. Which was exactly what Ellix had been waiting for.

Despite the fact that he had his intentions thought out, he had yet to actually prepare for them. Quickly, Ellix made his way to the left side of the Cera's deer; watching his sister's snout approach the meat. Ellix sat hunched down next to the stag, waiting until the last possible second to get his fill. His toothy smirk only expanding as her maw opened wide, allowing Cera to get a larger chunk out of the deer's hind leg.

Knowing it was _the time_ , Ellix pushed off the the ground, launching himself like a ragdoll right at the dead animal. Just as the females dragon's jaw was about to chomp down, Ellix released his hold on the shadow realm, appearing right before everyone's eyes in a flash of darkness. The first thing he did in his state of flight was smack his sister's snout out of the way, causing her to squeal with surprise and recoil. Was it an accident? Yes. However, that didn't stop a small smile from tugging at his face. Unobstructed, Ellix barreled straight towards the half eaten deer. As he came in contact with the decimated animal, Ellix secured his arms around it, ensnaring whatever was left tightly. Once Ellix grabbed the stag, all of his momentum was transferred to it, causing both Ellix and the deer to somersault across the room before they disappeared back into the shadows on the wall.

The room was silent, the only thing that could be heard was the sounds of birds chirping outside and the not-so-quiet rubbing and mumbling of his sister's snout; all while everyone gazed at the spot where Ellix had disappeared. They all knew Ellix had the shadow element, or at least what he called it, and that he did stunts like this often. But every time it happened they couldn't help but be astonished. Finally, his father snapped out of his stare, shattering the silence.

"Yeah!" He shouted, obviously delighted that Ellix heard his call of 'distress', "I knew I could count on you!" He continued jovially before jumping up and running to Ellix's section of the cave system, leaving the two females to their umbrage. However, upon reaching Ellix's room, Joule found his son on his back with closed eyes; rubbing his gut, while all that remained of the deer was its head and bones.

"Aw," Joule pouted, picking up one of the femurs that had been stripped from its meat, his previous elation being replaced by a listless expression, "I thought you would have left at least a little," he ended, tossing the bone to the back towards the entrance.

"Nope," Ellix grunted, "because according to Cera you ate half of it," he rebuked, much to Joules chagrin; because in truth, he had only gotten maybe three-fourths of an average serving. Looking up to his father, he couldn't help but leer at his downcast look.

Joule was as lightning as one could get, his scales being a pyrite color while his chest and wing membranes were pine brown; his eyes closely matching the colors of his chest. Joule's chest scales consisted of a single vertically and horizontally centered diamond followed by arrows going up and down his chest. Joule's body was thinner than most dragons, clearly being built more for speed than bulk; this was also apparent in his muzzle shape, which was more feminine in appearance. He had three horns, one on the very tip of his snout, and the other two on the sides of his head. All three were shaped like curved zig-zags and the one on his nose was a brighter brown, making it almost yellow.

Two sets of spines ran down the middle of his head and were connected by a thin layer of brown skin. These frills met up into one set when they reached his wing joints and continued down until the start of his tail. He also had these spines on his shoulders, hips, and under his maw. Underneath said spines, many brown spots could be found, giving him a somewhat giraffe-like appearance. His tail spade was a barbed blade that held the appearance of three hooked teeth that stuck outward while the last tooth was much larger than the rest and was more inwardly curved, while also having a pointed tip, and as he sat there it twitched and swayed. These teeth barbs were also present on his wing tips, but were comprised of only a singular point. Joule's claws, tail blade, wing tips, and horns were all the same brown as his chest.

"Come on!" Joule blurt out suddenly, breaking Ellix out of his awkward stare, "Let's get this carcass out of here before some apes, or grublins I suppose, catch on to the scent," he concluded prudently. The apes were the whole reason they were living in this musty cave in lieu of the dragon city, Warfang.

They were disgusting. Matted fur, gnarled teeth, finger nails covered in rotted flesh, and the blood- splattered with blood. All of these things made their appearance menacing, regardless of the fact that they were smaller in comparison to his own size; or any dragon's for that matter, save for the higher ranking apes, which were somehow larger than the rest. The stench that followed them didn't help either, as one could often smell them coming from miles away. However, the worst thing about them was the way they fought. Swarms, swarms, and swarms of them at a time. Smallest cluster that he'd ever seen was about six apes, and that was just a scouting party.

Ellix shuddered at the sound of the word. Apes were one of the things he was _trained_ to hate and fear. He remembered the last time his family had encountered the smelly, homicidal creatures. They had been forced to abandon their previous home for three months to take refuge in the ever frozen wastes of Dante's Freezer, and when they returned, the surrounding forest was burned down and their cave had been half destroyed. Of course, they had found another home, this one resting in the Valley of Avalar. However, all this happened over three years ago and since that time, there hadn't been one sign of a single ape. Instead, their family had to deal with a whole new form of enemy, grublins.

These creatures were just as vicious and disgusting as the apes, even their intelligence matched that of the mammals, which was rather depressing. The only differences between the two foul beings was that the grublins were made of earth and lacked the most basic senses, such as smell; also, the grublins came in many different forms, each one having its own very specific task. Ellix trembled again as he thought about the massive grublin troll that had attacked him and his father while on a hunting trip not long after the creatures started appearing, the thing took well over an hour of constant battle to defeat and even then neither him nor Joule came out unscathed.

Despite the fact that the apes had vanished, and the grublins couldn't track for their lives, his family still kept their guard up, not wanting to let even the slightest thing hint at their location, and acting as if both enemies were a constant threat. So, he pushed himself to his feet and padded over to his waiting father. They each took half of the deer's skeleton and walked out of Ellix's section of the cave.

Ellix was the first to come out of the tunnel; his usual frown could barely be seen as he carried the deer's rib cage in his jaw. However, as he rounded the corner, he was met by a blinding stream of frost, covering the whole front half of his body in a thin layer of snow. After a moment of standing there, Ellix dropped the deer carcass listlessly and shook his body violently; flinging bits of ice in every direction. A final flick of the tail later he looked up to his attacker with a deeply resentful scowl.

Cera only chuckled to herself as she watched Ellix shake the frost off, but once he turned back to face her, the look on his face was enough to send her into a fit of laughter. Luckily, she remained observant enough to duck under his tail blade as it came whirling at her face.

"Maybe you should save some next time," Cera choked through her mirth, which was only intensified after his failure to come up with a retort.

Ellix only sustained his scowl and walked to the entrance of the cave; sitting down and waiting for his father so they could go and bury the bones, still flicking off pieces of ice that had gotten stuck under his scales. It was at this point that their father came around the corner, chuckling conviviality to himself, with the other half of the deer between his wing joints.

"Maybe you should actually grab some next time," he chided as he walked past her over to where Ellix was sitting; taking the time to vigorously rub the top of Cera's head with his right paw.

"Hey!" She emitted angrily, nipping at her father's forearm, "I was about to but the _ape_ hog over there stole the whole thing before I could get any!" Her tone dripping with venom as she hissed, turning to Ellix who returned the favor with a low snarl.

"Oh _sure_!" Ellix shot back belligerently, completely ignoring the bones as they fell from his maw, "It's not like you had the _entirety_ of ours to eat!"

"Well Ellix, unlike _some_ dragons, I am polite, and don't steal others food!"

"Alright you two," A cordial voice replied, cutting the growls off, "And you," it continued, seemingly aimed at their father, who had been facing Ellix and snickering.

Joule looked up just in time to receive a blast of snow to the snout, covering it in a thick layer of ice and effectively closing it. Recoiling from the abrupt cold, he looked down to see his nostrils covered in ice.

"Whmmmmy!" Wide-eyed, Joule began to scratch frantically at the ice with his claws, slowly chipping it away while two distinct giggles and a scoff could be heard. He looked up to see his mate walking towards him with a smug smirk on her face.

"Maybe you shouldn't eat more than half your fill, Joule," she said brushing up against his side then nuzzling under his chin. Sapphire was two toned, oyster shell teal and sapphire blue. Her eyes were another thing altogether. Unlike most, she had a different color for each eye; one color being a light blue and the other a pine green. Across her side, between her forearms and thighs, a sinuous streak of the turquoise could be seen, making it look like the waves of the ocean across her body. These waves also pronounced her body's curvature accurately, making her all the more stunning.

Her chest scales could be seen as multiple ovals, connecting vertically together to make curved triangles at the sides. The triangles were the deepest hue of blue, almost black, that could be found across her body, whiles the ovals matched the sapphire blue found elsewhere. This blue also followed up to her wing membranes, and surprisingly, she had no frills across her back or anywhere else on her body. Sapphire had three horns, they all shot straight back and bent back inward near the ends, making them look almost like falchions. Her tail spade looked like an elongated throwing star, with the tips facing outwards and each arrow having two spikes, one on the bottom and top, that also faced outwards; to put into a better perspective, it was essentially a buzzsaw with hooks on each blade. These stars were also on her wing tips, but only had three points and lacked the spines. Her horns, tail spade, claws, and wing tips were all silver.

Joule blushed, knowing she was right and attempted to hide it, though to no avail. Her smile deepened upon seeing his embarrassment.

"Now go and bury those bones, and clean yourselves up," she urged, "You know this is the day that Selic and Vinea said they would visit," Sapphire admonished, finishing the argument, before turning and walking back into the cave.

This was why Ellix seriously doubted that his family was in any _actual_ danger. Sure they had been attacked, kicked out of their home, and forced to fight for their lives, but in all honesty, if the world was so ancestors-damn _dangerous_ , why the heck would _anyone_ even think of leaving the safety of their home to visit a friend? Even though this wasn't the first time they had visited, what the heck? Is everyone stupid or do they just not care?

"What?!" Cera shouted, taken aback by the 'unforeseen' announcement and completely ignoring the irony, "Why didn't you tell _me_ yesterday?" She finished, kneading in ground anxiously. Selic's son, Mach, was the only one closer to Cera then her mother. In other words, her consort.

"I did, you were just too involved with pestering Ellix about who caught yesterday's meal," she stated, turning back to face the three of them, "and I still believe that you-," however, before she could finish Cera charged under her.

"No time for compliments!" She yelled from underneath her mother, causing her to yelp and jump lightly, then dart past Ellix and Joule. "Need to get ready!" And by ready, she meant polishing all of her reachable scales and sharpening her horns and claws. She quickly disappeared into the forest, heading towards a nearby stream to wash up in.

"Do you really think she caught the boar?" Joule asked right as his mate decided to turn back into the cave, again, "Ellix was the one to actually kill it, Saph," he reminded her, looking down as Ellix, who just raised an eye ridge in return, almost as to say 'Support? Two times in one day? Interesting…'

"That may be, but Cera was the one who wounded it enough for them to catch it," Sapphire retorted plainly, not even turning around to face them, "But that doesn't matter right now, you two need to clean yourselves or you'll stink up the place, and you know Vinea won't be very happy," she warned them, slightly yelling around the corner she had disappeared behind.

Joule knew Selic's mate had a more-sensitive-than-necessary nose, and the last thing he needed was her batting him around for being covered in the stench of a stag. He sighed, then looked down to Ellix who had the same look on his face, he too had been scolded by Vinea more than once.

"We better go." Joule mumbled before lacklusterly turning away from Ellix and towards where they had seen Cera run off too, "Both of us know how to appease that dragoness," Joule finished with a half-hearted chuckle, and with those words, both he and Ellix flew off towards a small river that flowed by the cave, with deer bones in their mouths and blood on their claws.

The cave they called home wasn't that much in the way of looks from the outside, seeming to be no more than a simple hole that was barely distinguishable from the cliff wall it sat in. A few patches of moss and grass clung to the side, adding a splash of natural color to the grey cliffs. A narrow ledge allowed them a way to land. However it took skill since it was quite thin and they had little time to decelerate before hitting the main chamber. A few trees stuck out from the cliff, making the visibility of the cavern even lower. All in all, the cave looked minuscule. However, the inside consisted of a large, seemingly endless, sprawling tunnel system that gave their family more than enough room to hold themselves and many guests, should they need to.

Sadly, guests were rare, since there weren't that many dragon families nearby, or really in general. The only other family they knew of was Selic, Vinea, and their children, Mach and Ria. Even then, they didn't see them often because of the _clearly_ apparent dangers that were posed to them, and with the dark armies still roaming the surrounding land, neither family could travel through the forest without being cautious. But when one or the other family decided to visit, their stay was usually kept from anywhere to two weeks to a few months.

They landed on the rocky beaches of the river, dropping the deer skeleton on the ground. Joule glanced around to see if he could spot anything in the tree line, a grublin attack at this time would not be the most ideal thing, and since they were so close to their home, running back would only attract them there. After a thorough scan, he turned down to Ellix, who he found was doing the same thing, which he was rather proud of. Joule had been the one who taught Ellix about the surrounding forest and what to be wary of, having had experience in the war, as well as special training in the subject of survival.

"Ellix," he said to his only son, causing him to break his trance and turn to his father, "why don't you find Cera and wash up, I'll deal with the bones," the gold dragon concluded with an amiable smile. Ellix rested there for a second, _almost_ wanting to be courteous and help him with digging the hole, since none of them were earth dragons, but eventually he realized how sappy it would sound and ended up just sharply nodded; striding off across the shoreline.

"But make sure you find her before doing anything else," Joule advised as Ellix advanced up the beach. Joule was more than aware that Ellix could hold his own against a grublin attack, but two dragons fighting is still better than one.

Ellix advanced up the shoreline at a steady pace, stopping every so often to scan the tree-line and sky, just in case any grublins or wyverns are skulking about. The oak trees that surrounded him were incredibly dense, providing the finest camouflage for attackers. Despite this overwhelming advantage, Ellix was unconcerned. The beach he was traveling on was lined with crystals, about every fifty feet. His family found out that these crystals only grew here, which was a stroke of luck by itself. Ever since the apes started to harvest the crystals for their magic they became less and less available. The sad part is that these crystals could only be used one time; his mother thought it was because they were newly formed and didn't have a proper base yet.

Eventually, the rocks beneath his paws started to turn into pebbles, which, as he walked even farther, turned into sand. His movement left indents in the beach, causing the tiny grains to lodge their way in between his paw and claws, making them itch unbearably. But luckily for Ellix, the sand abruptly stopped, leaving him on a large, flat slab of stone that stretched into the water and a good sixty feet across the beach.

" _Well, this should… and she's not here,"_ Ellix sighed subconsciously. This was the exact rock face that his sister used to wash off, knowing this because to he used it was well. The large, flat rock entered the water at a shallow angle, allowing one to pretty much be in the middle of the river and still be standing. The stone's surface was also coarse, not enough to cut their scales, but provided enough resistance to scrape any grime off them, and to top it all off the current around this area was extremely slow. Thus, in their minds, making it the best place to clean off.

He proceeded down the rock beach, still scanning for danger and his sister, as if there were much of a difference. _Where is she?_ Ellix questioned, becoming more displeased by the second, _There is no way! No way, she could have finished that fast,_ ending his little snit as he looked left and right; furiously searching for a sign that his sister was there whilst creeping towards the water. The suspense was insignificantly prodding at him; no sound, no signs, he could smell her, but that didn't matter much because he could also smell his own scent from previous trips, then finally, he broke.

"Cera!"

Silence. Waiting for what seemed like an eternity, he called again, only this time with more zeal.

"Cera!"

It was practically a scream of arrant frustration, but none the less, all he got back was the echo.

Now he was _mildly_ worried, he began to shuffle around the beach, pushing loose rocks and bits of leaf about. This was not good, maybe; did something happen to her? What if she got attacked while she was alone? Did a wyvern sweep her off? Or maybe a grublin party just flat out killed her. Each thought was more entertaining to envision than the last. However, he doubted that a simple band of attackers would down her that quickly. Their dad taught them a good deal of things about combat, but despite the training and previous encounters he couldn't help but feel unnerved. At this point Ellix was standing over the water, looking across the shoreline, dreading to find some indication of his sister.

Up to this point, he only surveyed the shore and tree line, but as quickly as he realized this, another nondescript thought came to him. _She's in the water,_ Ellix was, unfortunately, too late, and as he looked down, a cyan blob shot out of the water, knocking him into the air and scaring him despite the fact.

Ellix quickly began flapping his wings, regaining his composure in the air and balancing himself. Still breathing heavily, he peered beneath the spot in which he was hovering. He knew it was Cera, but the jump scare was enough to set him on edge. However, as he looked around, all he could see was the slab of stone. His sister was, once again, gone.

"Cera?" Ellix asked bellicosely, irritated that his sibling would act so daft when the situation could be hazardous. Unfortunately, his answer was one he could have lived without.

With the sound of a mighty flap, and a kick to the back, Ellix was sent sprawling into the river, landing belly first into the water with a stomach churning _smack_! Ellix struggled to the surface, the air having been knocked out of him upon entering the water. Luckily he hadn't hit the rock below, but it had still hurt, badly. He crawled out of the water, panting heavily and dragging his tail, spewing curses and sentences of revenge. Upon reaching the water's edge, he was met by none other than Cera, who was failing miserably in her attempt to stifle a laugh.

Her cyan scales glistened in the sunlight, an obvious sign that she had been cleaning them for an extensive period of time. She also shared Ellix's snow-white scales. Hers, however, were located on her underbelly and chest, going all the way back to the mid-point on her tail. Cera's muzzle was average for a dragoness; a pointed almost beak like shape with a curved upper lip. Her eyes were a lovely shade of azure, and they sparkled with a strange sadistic glee as she watched Ellix struggle. The secondary color of her hide was a deeper sky blue, which dotted her flank and neck in small splotches, accenting specific parts of her body more than others. It was hard to tell, due to her blinding colors, but Cera actually had a nicely shaped body, a pronounced chest with strong curves that ran all the way down to her tail. 'Like a descendant ancestor', according to Mach, but regardless, Ellix had to give the name some credit.

Cera's chest scales could be defined as bars, each one crossing her chest horizontally, making a prison grate like effect. Her wing membranes were a light blue, along with the film connecting to the frills that could be seen all the way from the back of her neck to the top of her rump. These frills were not connected to each other like Ellix's were, alternatively, each one flowed freely from the rest and looked like right triangles. Her horns also curved back, mimicking her mother's, but unlike hers, Cera only had two, and they angled back out near the end, making a smoothed out 'S' shape. The last prominent feature was her cone-like tail spade. It was shaped like a wooden spike with little, needle-like splinters attached to the side of it, acting as a morningstar and was ice white, like her claws and horns. She also had these deadly splinters on the main joints of her wings.

Once Ellix was aside his sister, he flopped down on his back, wings hanging loosely at his sides while he grimaced through his teeth.

"That," Ellix started glancing up to Cera with beady eyes, who in return, stared at him with a viciously happy smile, "was unnecessary," finalizing the statement with askance. He was about to say something snide in hopes of ending her joy but was cut off.

Laughter. Seriously? How could she not laugh, it was just too absurd to look away from. Ellix, lying on his back with his eyes now closed, heard his sister's chortling, or contained giggling, guffawing... snorting. Opening his vision to the world, he glared at her.

"That wasn't funny, I don't know why you think it was," he retorted still irate, "because it would have been _awful_ if something had gotten to you. Me being concerned and all," he finished with a more than obvious amount of sarcasm. Upon getting no response Ellix her studied for a second, trying to figure out what was so ridiculously funny.

"Was that just some poor excuse of extended payback?" She nodded, causing him to scoff and turn away, not wanting to look at her hysterics.

"That's not why I'm… I'm laughing," she managed to blurt out.

Ellix raised a skeptical eye. "Then tell me," he demanded, the anger in his chest rising with each second. It was something wrong with him, obviously, because nothing else would be funny enough. However, he didn't know what is was, and it irked him greatly to see her just snorting and giving cryptic answers.

"Look at yourself!" Cera practically screeched, before covering her face with paws, making her fall forward onto her belly. Ellix stared for a bit, more peeved than ever.

"Oh! So I'm the issue! Yeah sure," he sneered with enhanced sarcastic abilities before slowly rolling back over and looking at his own body. "You're over here howling like dad just attempted a backflip, again, and yet somehow I'm the problem." Ellix gazed across his paws and tail, then his wings and back, he swished his head around to see if his horns were still intact, which they were. Nothing seemed wrong, maybe a little stomach pain but that was about it.

Then, Ellix rolled back over to inspect his stomach scales. The normally black plates now had a red tint to them, causing their color to be a dark maroon. On the sides of his body where the water had also impacted, his white scales were now pink, all in all, it made him look like someone had fun with an airbrush. Upon viewing his, Ellix's eyes widened in shock and he blushed, his face turning a deep red to finish off his transformation.

Cera could only watch as Ellix discovered why she was mocking him, and his expression made it hilarious another time over; which could be only described as shock, then embarrassment, then anger beyond recognition. Quickly, he covered himself with his wings before rolling over again, not wanting to give Cera the satisfaction of viewing her handy work. Ellix then turned back to her, seeing that she was still cackling at the whole ordeal. He was about to retort with a snarky comment he had been saving for the past couple weeks but was interrupted, again.

"So," Cera said, now recomposed, "what's it like to be a fire dragon?" She asked slyly with a hidden smirk.

"Shut up," he snorted irefully, then got up and turned away from her, heading down to the river to soothe his stomach and hopefully remove the redness. As he entered the water, the stinging pain from his belly flop was immediately removed. The cool water made its way across his chest scales before slipping in between them and touching his sensitive skin, causing a shiver to bolt it's way up to his head. Slowly, almost methodically, Ellix lowered himself every farther into the water. He was now wing joint deep, allowing it to flow around him peacefully as he waded with his eyes closed.

Cera watched silently, staring at Ellix as he stood unmoving in the water. The sounds of the surrounding forest battering her ears, along with the water lapping against the shore. She expected Ellix to try and get back at her, but instead, he just stood in the water, not even cleaning himself. He must have been pissed, after all, she just made a complete fool out of him, even if their was no one around.

But soon, her strangely necessary revenge was interrupted. Cera was the first to hear it; the sound of wings beating against the air. Snapping to focus, Cera whipped her gaze to the sky. Soon after, Ellix's glare joined hers; both pairs of eyes darting left and right, trying to identify the source. As the beats got nearer and more could be heard, Cera could see Ellix visibly tense up. She too, had received lessons from her father, though her training was mainly focused on survival in a hostile environments, such as tracking and medical skills, rather than about the creatures that dwell within it. On the other hand, Ellix had learned about the creatures that lived inside the forest, as well as the ones that wished to harm them, such as apes, wyverns, and grublins, and been told how to combat them.

Ellix began to shift in the water, backpedaling until he was at his sister's side. Despite their dislike for each other, or rather Ellix's dislike of Cera, they had been taught to fight together, regardless of how much they hated one another, and cover the others weaknesses. But even though they were grouped, the feeling of nervousness seeped into them, though Ellix less than Cera, but both expected to see a group of apes riding dreadwings burst over the tree line, or a pack of wyverns eyeing them hungrily with their insect like faces. However, since all of their focus was to the skies, and neither sibling took a certain gold and brown dragon into consideration as he approach them from down the beach.

"Apes!"

One simple word, yet ambiguous in meaning. The sudden cry from behind caused Cera to jump easily a few feet into the air, and out of instinct her wings flared open then locked, allowing her to hover for a brief moment before crashing to the ground, stomach first. Ellix, on the other hand was more than anticipating an attack, and was already in a combat stance. Swiftly spinning on his pads to face the possible threat, he whipped his tail blade around, swiping it against the rocks mere inches away from the paw of his father with a sharp _clink_.

"Oh, ho oh!" Joule chuckled in amazement, releasing his paw from the scrunched up position he had it in. He was happy to say the least, gaining the reaction he wanted from at least one of his kin. However, he was still impressed at how fast Ellix had reacted to his little 'attack', having almost lost a toe from it; at least the time it took to teach him wasn't a complete waste. His eyes darted between the two sibs. Cera was quick to recover from her little flight and was now standing again with Ellix, who was still in his combat stance. Though both were glaring daggers at him, watching as he sniggered.

"You both reacted fairly well considering you seemed preoccupied," Joule spouted, though hoping that maybe a compliment would help to placate their agitation.

Ellix just growled bellicosely before he turned away and scoffed; walking back down to the water. Both father and daughter watched him go in silence before turning to each other with slightly piqued expressions.

"What's eatin' him?"

"Well before you arrived, I kind of gave him a jump scare and knocked him into the river," Cera replied with a barely concealed grin.

"Oh?" Joule stated placidly, it shocked him at how much his children still acted like… well children, despite their age, "I assume he didn't take it well then."

"Yeah," she continued, her posture remaining the same, "the impact kind of turned him into a fire dragon." However, Cera's attempt at subtly abruptly fractured when she remembered Ellix face, "You should have seen it! All of his underbelly and sides were a bright pink!"

Then, Joule beamed deviously, "You mean kind of like the way you look right now?"

Cera's face visibly shattered, her quirky grin instantly vanishing as she looked down to see the extent of what her father was talking about. To her dismay, he was right, the only difference between her and Ellix's transformations was that she had no black scales to cover up the redness. Blushing deeply, Cera hid the sides of her body with her wings and waddled to the water were Ellix was cleaning himself. Joule stifled a laugh, it was these moments in time in which he wished he could capture the scenes that the two produced, just so he could mock them more effectively.

Pausing for a moment Joule shook his head, not wanting to waste any more time in his own little personal event capturing dreamland. After all, he had yet to even begin cleaning off, and from the looks of it, neither had his children. Maybe he could use this time to 'bond', since other than late at nights and in the early morning after everyone had eaten, he didn't get much of a chance. Joule smiled, watching Ellix and Cera in the water. In the short time he was thinking they had somehow managed to get into a splash fight, and from the looks of it, Cera was winning.

 _Nope, no bonding,_ Joule thought. With a cunning smirk and he quickly shot into the air with a mighty flap, positioning himself right over the fighting siblings.

Ellix had already had enough of this play fight. He was in no mood for joking, let alone getting splashed in the face with water and ice, repetitively, as in many, many times. All he wanted to do was get the deer scent off himself but apparently Cera would be damned before she would let that happen.

"Come on Ellix! I thought you were good at fighting!" Cera's teased, beating her wings rapidly, causing her to gain lift and splash water against Ellix, who was attempting to block the waves with his forearms.

"I am! You just seem to think that fighting is nothing more than arguments and pranks!" He retorted, before he broke through her attack and dove under the water, catching her off guard by grabbing her midsection and throwing her barely smaller frame farther out into the river.

"Why are you even doing this? Aren't you afraid of getting your prissy little scale dir- _awk_!" Sadly, his unfinished rebuttal was cut off when a wad of slush found its way into his mouth.

"Not really!" Cera countered, who had somehow created an iceberg and was now floating lazily on it, "Since we're- _hack_ , still in the- _hack_ , water- _hack_ , can't exactly get dirty- _hack_!" She remained, continuing to pelt him with ice.

"For ancestors sake Cera, just stop!" He yelled in a feeble attempt to get her to see reason, using his wings as makeshift shields against the globs of freezing water. But soon thereafter his request was fulfilled, even if it meant he and to endure a tidal wave.

Joule landed between the two, breaking apart their fighting while gaining surprised yelps from both. The churning of water and the massive wave that had been produced by the twelve foot tall dragon was enough to send both brother and sister crashing to the rocky beach unceremoniously. The two sat there, coughing and sputtering for a good couple of seconds before turning their heads to see Joule resurface with a fountain of water.

"I believe… that I win," he claimed plainly, wading to the stone slab and crawling onto it. Ellix just snarled before standing up and shaking the excess water from his hide. Cera on the other hand was still panting too hard to reply and just flopped forward on the warm rock, a moment of silence falling between the three.

Sadly this peaceful time was ended when a low, robust chuckle sounded from behind the group. All three turned their head in surprise, Ellix being the only one to actually respond to the sound in a negative way, giving a low snarl and re-entering his crouched state.

"Calm yourself moron," a deep voice stated, clearly the same voice that had just been guffawing, "If you react that way every time someone talks to you it's a damned miracle that you haven't killed someone yet."

"And you, Joule!" An iceberg blue dragon with an arapawa underbelly yelled in a affable manner, "That was quite the display you pulled back there, despite the fact you almost drowned your own damn kin."

"Selic!" Joule chimed in, a toothy grin appearing on his face the instant he recognized his long time friend. Walking up to the old ice dragon with jubilation and sticking out a paw.

"It's good to see you as well, Joule," Selic replied before firmly grasping Joule's stuck out limb with his own, giving it a good hold and pulling Joule into a completely manly neck grab.

"And Vinea," Joule lingered his previous sentence as he glaced to Selic's right, "still looking lovely as ever." Hopefully she would not smell the deer that had barely been washed off. Because it would be 'unbearably' embarrassing if she called him out around all these people who cared.

"Thank you, Joule," the dell green and tallow dragoness replied, "but no thanks to him though," she continued flatly before turning to Selic and giving him a nip on the cheek. "By the way, you smell like deer gut."

"You bet!" Joule voiced loudly with a tad too much enthusiasm, though that didn't stop him from turning his head and smirking sheepishly, "But about that-." However, his attempt at an excuse was cut off by Vinea's ongoing speech.

"Nope, say no more!" She interrupted quickly, "However, I understand, besides it looked like you were preoccupied anyways."

Joule just stood in silence for a second, trying not to show his confusion; surprised at the fact that she wasn't beating him into the dirt. Something must have changed, hopefully. Passing it off, he looked down to the two young dragons at Selic's feet.

"And how are you two doing? Mach? Ria?" He asked, his eyes looking between them.

"Quite well, Mr. Joule," formally replied the shorter male dragon. Mach looked fairly similar to his father, including his muscular frame, the only exception being his scale color, which was a trinidad base and tan underbelly and chest that relatively copied his mother's. His chest scales consisted of simple boxes that connected all the way down to his underbelly, each on protruding slightly giving them a beveled look. The sides of his body are also dotted in blemishes of cumin, which are densely concentrated around his forearms and legs as well as underneath his newly forming shoulder, hip, and jaw frills.

Mach had an average snout, which consisted of a simple box shape that pointed at the end. Despite this, his cerulean colored eyes added emphasis to his face, causing is to be somewhat less ordinary. He had four horns on the top of his head, two directly on the sides of his head which stuck up before curving back down then up again, creating an elongated horizontal 'Z', and the other two just underneath the first pair, all four horns share the same length and shape; also, their colors perfectly matched that of his chest. He had frills all the way from the top of his head down to the middle of his tail, each one looking like a miniature fire and disconnected from the others. These frills were also present on his shoulders, hips, and the sides of his face under his horns, though they were smaller. His tail blade was an elongated arrowhead shape that ran a bit up his tail while also coping his base color. His wing tips also a half arrow shape to them, keeping the theme and hue.

"Come on now Mach, there's no need to be formal with me," Joule stated with merriment, causing both him and Mach to snicker, though both for different reasons.

Vinea then spoke up in her son's defense, "Well we don't want to him to have bad manners when this whole thing blows over now do we."

"Of course we fricking don't," Selic spoke this time, adding more unnecessary profanities, "What about you Ria? Don't you have anything to say to Mr. Laugh-and-Jokes here?

All eyes then turned to the lima green and cerise earth dragoness that sat off behind Vinea's right flank. Feeling the pressure from everyone's burning gazes Ria shied away, being the ever nervous dragoness she was, and hid behind her mother. At the same time, she unconsciously created a small patch flowers in the earth in between her front paws. Vinea signed and bent around to where Ria was hiding. Everyone heard a high pitched squeak before Vinea turned back with young female in her jaws and set her on the ground in the middle of their circle.

Ria was the youngest of all the children, being only fifteen. Her base scale color was lime green while her underbelly and chest was a bright pink. She was slightly more pudgy than most dragonesses her age, due to her strange spine scales, which added about two or three inches to her body size. However, one would guess, that if Ria didn't have these extra scales her appearance would be similar to Cera's, though still not as slimming.

Her flanks were completely bare besides the scales on her shoulders, no differing colors or frills to speak of. Ria's chest scales consistently matched a leaf's design, the middle vein being thicker than the off branching ones, therefore it was divided into proportionally sized rhombi. She had two horns, one on each side of her head, that curled back enough to look like a ram's, while simultaneously having another piece of bone protruding back towards her rump, creating a warped tree branch effect. Instead of having frills like a normal dragon would, Ria had larger scales that went from the top of her head down to her rump. These scales angled up at their tips, and were covered in the same pink that was present on her belly scales, making them look like flower petals. These scales were also found on her shoulders, thighs, and wing carpus. Her tale spade was flat and had narrow, hollowed out slits on the insides all facing outwards, essentially matching her chest's leaf design; her wing blades also shared the same leaf pattern though these were curved inwards down the main vein. If one word could be used to describe Ria, 'Natural' would be it.

Once again the center of attention, Ria clenched up again and curled her tail around her legs in an attempt to make herself smaller. Even though she knew Joule and his family, being around other dragons that weren't her family still unnerved her greatly. It also didn't help that she was the bright colors that she was and was pointlessly often called an 'attention whore' by her father. Clearly not getting out of the situation, Ria looked up to face Joule who currently had an encouraging grin on his face.

"H-hello," she stammered out, but when all Joule did was beam with glee, her resolve failed and she looked down.

"It's nice to see you too, Ria," Joule tittered at Ria's nervousness.

She looked back up and smiled at Joule only to see that he had turned back to face Selic. In response to this, Ria shuffled to the back of the crowd next to Mach, who bumped her in the side of the head with his snout, regaining a hint of happies.

"So, Selic," Joule asked making the old dragon look up from Mach and Ria, "what do I owe the pleasure today?"

Selic raised an eye ridge. "Don't play stupid with me, Joule. Don't you remember what day we said we would arrive here? Or has that damned memory of yours finally started to fail as well?" He finished with a snort, even though he wouldn't have remembered this day if his mate hadn't warned him weeks before. Joule was about to respond but was cut off when Mach spoke up.

"Excuse me, Joule," he started, in his always polite tone, "but could you tell me where Cera is?"

Joule smirked, happy to see that some things never change. So, in reply, he flicked his tail around and gestured behind himself. He didn't want to see what Ellix and Cera were bickering about right now, but he could tell it was happening because of the random shouts and slapping sounds that could be heard.

Mach looked around Joule to where had indicated and sure enough, there was Cera, who seemed to be in a heated argument, or slap fight, with Ellix at the moment over something that he couldn't hear. Though, since he had known the both of them for pretty much his whole life, it was a safe guess to say they were fighting over something completely pointless.

Mach noded then turned back to Joule, "Thank you, Joule," he acknowledged, before turning and walking off in Cera and Ellix's direction.

Ria, who had been hiding behind Mach for the remainder of the conversation, noticed that her 'I'm shy, protect me' meat shield was escaping. Therefore, she quickly stood up and ran after Mach. She knew that her brother and Cera were an item; that didn't bother her, what did was the awkwardness of the situation, or the soon to be. However, when she realized that Ellix was also across the beach, her gloom was reversed.

The three adult dragons watched the two young ones, namely Ria, make their way over to Ellix and Cera, who had yet to note them. This didn't last long and soon they all turned back wordlessly and resumed their conversations.

"I don't care, Cera!" Ellix roared with vexation, "I really, truly, don't freaking care about the boar!"

"You seemed to care earlier!" Cera retorted, jabbing her wing spike in his face.

"That's because it was the start of the argument!" He yelled back, slapping the appendage away from him.

"Still, it doesn't matter, I caught the boar more than you did," Cera stated egoistically. To her, Ellix was losing the argument so all she needed to do is force him into a 'corner' were the only way out was to admit she was right.

"I!" Ellix began, ignoring her rambunctious boasting.

"Ellix?"

"Don't!" He continued, oblivious to the voice.

"Ellix."

"Care!" Finishing his build up with his wings fully extended and his head raised to the sky.

"Ellix!"

"What!" Ellix pumping his wings down, doing the 'unthinkable', and blowing piles of sand in Cera's face. Snapping his head down with his teeth bared, he glowered at the dragon in front of him, but to his surprise Cera was no longer there, instead, Mach sat with his eyes closed. Behind him was Cera, who still had a small scowl on her face.

"Well it's nice to see you too," Mach huffed, knocking off the sand that had built up on his muzzle.

"Great!" Ellix said, his voice still raised, "Now there's sarcasm. I don't need this! I don't need this right now!" He yelled lamentably before spinning on his pads and stomping back down to the water. It was true, he _didn't_ need this. If he did want to he screamed at, slapped, and sarcasm-ed to death then he would have done it _himself_. All he wanted was to get the deer scent off his body, but the world just seemed to _not_ want that to happen.

Mach scoffed; turning around to face Cera who was now beaming graciously. "Are you alright Cera?" However, in lieu of words being the response, he was granted a soft nuzzle under the chin.

"I'm always alright when you're here," she cooed and leaned up against Mach's chest.

Mach smiled and wrapped his wings around her, pulling Cera into a loving hug. If it wasn't obvious that they were in a relationship, anyone who couldn't see it would need a dictionary to look up the term first. The best part was that their parents encouraged it, seeming almost eager to let it happen, though both knew why. They were just happy that in a world where dragons were more scarce than peace and quiet, they had each other.

Ria watched from afar, still not the least bit surprised at Mach and Ceras' predicted affection. After all, being his sister, she ought to know these things. She poked her head around the two cuddling dragons. Ellix was in the water, or under the water, rolling around on the stone slab attempting to clean himself. It seemed a bit rude to her that he was bathing right now, considering that her family just arrived, but none the less she still wanted to talk to him. Slowly, Ria made her way around Cera and Mach, arching her path as to not disrupt them. Upon reaching their other side, she began to back down towards the water, her eyes remaining focused on the two.

Ellix's attempted bath was interrupted by a shrill cry and the thrashing of water from behind. He sighed, half turning to see Ria, flailing around in the water, desperately trying to recover from what he could tell was a simple fall. Ellix lowered his head with another long groan, the world was hell bent on him not bathing.

 _Oh joy,_ he thought lacklusterly as Ria righted herself up in the water, _Miss Sensitive has arrived._ And with his immediate irritation out of his system he raised his head and looked at Ria.

"Can I help you?" Ellix said absentmindedly. If he ended the conversation quickly, then, and only then, would he be able to continue his oh so exciting time bathing. Which is what he wanted.

Ria looked up with wide eyes before blushing and lowering her head, "N-no, I just-."

"Well if it's nothing can you let me bathe? In peace?" Ellix shot, cutting her off.

"Well, I-I just-," she started again, "I-I just was wondering h-how... how you were doing."

Ellix raised an eye ridge, but despite his look he wasn't the slightest bit shocked. This kind of behavior was normal for Ria. The thing that was surprising though is that the only dragon she ever openly talked to was him.

"I'm fine," Ellix snapped, his tone unchanged, "but if that's all, I would like you leave."

Ria looked up to him with her maw agape for a moment before bowing her head with a frown, shuffling her paws in the water. "I-I'm sorry, I'll just go."

Seeing that he had struck the wrong chord and not wanting to come out looking like an _absolute_ jackass, Ellix turned around and spoke.

"I didn't mean it like that," he said, letting an aggravated sigh escape his maw, "It's just that I've been trying to wash off all morning but every time I try _something_ , or _anything_ , interrupts me!"

"Oh," she replied, relieved that she didn't do anything majorly wrong.

"Yeah. I was just about to finish anyways," Ellix stated, still miffed; wading his way out of the water and past Ria, ignoring her.

Ria stood up as he passed and followed, the two making their way up to where Cera and Mach were sitting. Ellix stopped about halfway and watched in disgust as the couple exchanged affections. Ria stopped next and turned to face him, which he conveniently did at the same time. Looking him directly in the eyes caused Ria to blush even deeper and shuffle. Breaking the awkward stare with an exasperated grunt, Ellix continued up the beach with Ria close behind.

"- can't wait to get back to the cave!" He heard Cera shout excitedly, while she cavorted around him, "I've been practicing my 'Ice Fall" technique and I think it's almost ready!"

"Yeah," his ears picking up Mach's reply, "we just have to wait for the adults to finish their conversations. Then we can get going."

"Yay!" Cera proceeded in her childlike manner and began licking the side of his snout.

Mach chuckled at her. He loved how innocent Cera could be sometimes. She always was able to cheer him and everyones else up, save for Ellix. He had to admit that sometime she got out of hand and it was more annoying than fun, but like his father always said, 'Every good thing has its dark sides.'

"Okay, okay Cera," Mach said, half attempting to halt the never ending affections, "I get it, you missed me. I missed you as well, but this can wait, you know what season it is."

"Oh, alright," she replied ruefully, feeling rejected. Mach tried to comfort her a bit by wrapping his wings and a forepaw around her in a tight hug.

"Am I interrupting something?" A sudden, cold voice called out, causing the two to look up.

Both saw Ellix, standing in front of them with one eye ridge raised and a neutral expression on his face. After a second of silence, Ria poked her head around to see the three having a staring contest, getting nervous at the tension, she ducked back behind Ellix.

"N-no, I was just reminding Cera of what season it was," Mach answered, ending the silence.

"Yeah!" Cera cheered, jumping out from under Machs wing, "It's nearly the equinox!" At which Ellix deadpanned.

"Ah yes, Spring time," Ellix began in a sarcastic tone, choosing to use the more simple list name of the season, "host of the _fantastic_ Courtship month!" He continued with a fake grin while bouncing on his paws. Then, his voice took a more serious tone and he started yelling.

"The only time of the year where it is _apparently legal_ for dragons our age to-!"

"Ellix!" Mach interrupted feeling utterly scandalized after what had been said, "I can't believe you sometimes. It's like you're still a hatchling learning about it," he scolded. "Anyways, you know that's not what it's about, and you know that's _not_ what happens."

"Yeah, more of a hatchling than happy-go-lucky over here," Ellix mumbled caustically, and walking off towards the adults, continuing to mutter to himself as he went. Mach could lecture him all he wanted, it wasn't going to change his view of it. This was, by far, his _least_ favorite season for one reason, Courtship month. He seemed to be the only one not affected by the season change. Everyone else turned into 'hold me's' and pretty much every other type of mushy personality one could think of. It just seemed wrong to him, it was like dragons were being forced into this kind of behavior, having no option but to go with it. That it why he despised it so much and would not, for the life of him, be caught participating.

Halfway to his decided destination, he noticed something on the ground. A patch of brightly colored tulips. Surprised, he turned to face Ria, who he found, much to his dislike, was rather intently examining him. Caught staring, she jumped, creating another appearance of multi colored floret. However, when she became aware of this and realized why Ellix was interrogating her with his eyes, Ria concentrating a bit and flattening both patches of flowers out.

"Great, this again," Ellix commented, mostly to himself, before turning back to the adults. _A_ _nd it's happening more than last time, wonderful,_ he finished mentally. Suddenly, he heard Cera speak up in the background.

"Mach, were you the ones flying a couple minutes ago?" She asked, reminding Ellix of the wing beats they heard earlier.

"No," he started with trepidation, "we decided to walk the last few miles because we had been flying since early morning."

"Oh, well I suppose it's nothing-," Ellix walked away mid-sentence, failing to hear the rest.

When he reached the adults they were still deep in conversation. From what he could hear, it was about the flight over and what they were going to do when they all got back to the cave. As much as he wanted to butt in and say 'Hey! How about we actually get _going_!' He knew better when Selic and Vinea were around. So, he just sat there, waiting for them to notice and invite him into the conversation.

Unexpectedly, his thoughts were interrupted when he felt a minute rush of wind next to him. Snapping his head around, Ellix prepared himself for something unpleasant to meet his gaze. However, even though his assumptions were partially correct, it wasn't what he was anticipating. The first thing he saw was a pair of amber eyes, which were uncomfortably close.

Both yelped, Ellix surprised at the closeness of Ria, Ria surprised at Ellix's rapid turn. Each landed on their back, both hitting the ground with a _thud_. The sound of the younglings distress was enough to break the triangle of babble that the adults had created.

The sight of the two dragons sprawled over the ground earned them a few surprised looks from the parents. The confusion did last long though, because thankfully, Joule broke the silence.

"Ellix?" He questioned, his eyes darting between the two, "What are you doing?" Ellix opened his maw to respond, but Selic came up with a witty insult first.

"He's being his usual fool self that's what," the old dragon barked, somehow annoyed that the ever so interesting talk was ruined, "and what about you Ria? What do you have to say for yourself," he snapped accusingly, seeming to believe that they had committed a crime to conversation.

Once again in the spotlight, Ria looked down nervously, and shuffled under everyone's gazes. Ellix rolled his eyes, clearly Ria wasn't going to speak up soon, so someone had to say something. Ellix opened his maw again to speak, but just like before, was interrupted. This time by the last person he thought would cut someone off.

"W-We... were going to ask w-what t-time... we were going to leave for the cave," Ria said, choosing her words carefully making sure not to further anger her father.

Everyone was shocked that Ria had actually participated in a conversation _and_ answered a question. Since the group stood in silence for the moment, Ria shied away behind Ellix fearing she did something wrong. Ellix watched her out of the corner of his eye then looked back to the still shocked adults.

"Yeah," he started, remembering his previous thought, "don't you think he should actually go to the cave rather than talking about it?"

"I'd have to agree with Ellix there," Mach's voice said from behind, causing Ria to jump and create another miniature flower and causing Ellix too sigh, while everyone else just turned to look. He was getting a bit tired of everyone just interrupting him constantly, since it seemed to always be because of him. Once everyone recomposed themselves, Joule spoke up.

"Yes, I suppose you're right," he then turned to Selic and Vinea. "How about we all head back right now."

Selic just gave a sharp nod. Vinea glared a bit, but Joule failed to notice. Instead, he turned to the four younglings and ushered them into position with a wave of a wing. Once they were all a good distance from one another each rose their wings in preparation to lift off. However, they were halted when Vinea suddenly spoke up.

"Not! You two," she said plainly, directing it at Joule and Ellix. "Both of you still smell like crap and I will _not_ , have you stinking up the place we're all going to be living for the next month." Joule left eye twitched a bit while Ellix's reaction was more verbal.

"OooOOOoookaaay! That's just brilliant. Cause it's not like anyone else cares!" He stated, his tone laced with sarcasm, before whipping around and walking to the water while Joule rubbed his temples with one paw.

"Good." Was all that was said before the five other dragons lifted off and flew towards the sunset, leaving Joule and Ellix to wash off... again.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **And there you have it! I know this one might have been a bit slower than the last. Most likely due to the lack of action and the large amount of description and dialogue. However, I do have a very good reason for this! I needed to explain each dragon's personality in this chapter. Not entirely, but just enough so that you can determine what kind of person they are.**

 **Hacodeman: Ya, if you survive this chapter then you'll probably like the rest of this thing.**

 **Thanks Code. Though, it's still up to the readers if they like the story or not.**

 **Hacodeman: nah, its not up to dem, its up to the tv people.**

 **I... have no idea how T.V. would get brought into this. But I guess it's a good thing to strive for.**

 **Hacodeman: cause poltergeist logic.**

 **Damn poltergeist. WHY CAN'T THEY JUST LEAVE US ALONE! Seriously, go to the Haunted House PDX. You're needed there. Ugh. Fine, whatever. Alright! One last thanks! But before that, answer me a question. Why is it so hard to click the favorite button? And no! I'm NOT a hypocrite! I just don't favorite stories, or, not that many, on this account because it's not solely mine! But please guys, show me some lovin! I know you won't regret it!**

 **Thanks friends!**

 **MakeSureToKnock & Hacodeman (& nonexistent Ssethelis)**


	3. Love's 'Subtleties'

**A/N:**

 **Okay you fools. Here it is. Chapter three. As you can clearly see. Sseth and Code… as well as Aetheo, he really didn't do much.**

 **Aetheo: Let us write "Balls"**

 **Hacodeman: Ayyy oh, SEXY TIME IS HERE!**

 **Ssethelis: Well, to put this lightly, y'all are in for some serious shit.**

 **Okay just ignore all that. Im sure that's not what you're here for.**

 **Hacodeman: These notes better be what u all are here for**

 **Ssethelis: You may have to deal with a big Author's Note, too. My apologies.**

 **Good god please stop and let me finish! I swear you're all going to start an author's war!**

 **Hacodeman: NO! WAR IS THE ONLY WAY! BUTTSEX BUTTSEX BUTTUTTUTTUTTUTT BUTTSEX!**

 **Aetheo: PeAcE, BrO.**

 **And *kick*, Codes is now gone. Welp, that's that. Thank god for G-Docs.**

 **Ssethelis: Our lives have now been made easier.**

 **Hacodeman: MmmmMM! MmEM! MmMME! Mphf! Ptooah! NEVAH! I WILL REMAIN!**

 **Ssethelis: "You can't spell 'subtext' without 'buttsex'"**

 **Okay, breaking out the ban hammer.**

 **Aetheo: Burn the heretic.**

 **I'll Burn everything. I swear. Just one Mach away and this'll all stop. Okay, now if everyone is done with their rambling and other unnecessary nonsense, I need to do my own!**

 **Disclaimer: Seriously, why do I need to do this. It's not like I'm going to steal anything. Cause you know, copyrights and stuff. It's all government. So fine! Activision! Take your Spyro and his stuff! Out of my office!**

 **But as a final note:**

 **WTF the fuck: it's better than just a single fuck!**

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Love's 'Subtleties'**

Ellix sat comfortably in front of the fire that lit the main chamber of his cavernous home, watching the flames lick the air and the rocks around their base. The small sticks and twigs that supported the miniature inferno were slowly being consumed, destroyed by the ever hungry blaze. Occasionally, an ember would grow incredibly hot and- as a result- pop, exploding it as well as creating a flurry of sparks and ash that would rush towards the ceiling before slowly falling back into the fire. Ellix shifted positions, picking up the rock that he was lying on and replacing it with one that sat next to the coals. The new stone was comfortably warm, providing heat for his cold-blooded body. Then, he grabbed a stick with his tail and tossed it into the fire, and with another eruption of sparks, the flames starting munching away on their new treat.

This was the one of the few things done by Ellix during his basic routine when it was the Courtship month. His day started early, which was just getting up before everyone else for reasons he didn't want to discuss. He would wake in silence, eat breakfast in silence, then wait for the rest of the family to get up in silence. Most of the time he'd have to wait till midday just to even see one of them, again for reasons he wouldn't discuss. Once someone did show their muzzle, he would immediately tell whomever it was that he was going outside to the river, then leave without another word, whether or not they heard him. He would then proceed to stay away from everyone for the entire day and in some cases halfway through the night, which he knew was dangerous but from his perspective was better than being back inside. On the days he was given relief and was allowed to peacefully enter the cave, he would simply sit near the fire till he was sure that the rest of the family was asleep.

It had been a hour since he had heard anything from the others. However, he knew better than to assume, last time he had done so the sight was no less than horrifying. He shuddered, remembering the two-second memory, something he wished he could forget. Pushing it aside, he strained his ears, hoping to hear nothing. Luckily, all he got was silence, but knowing the consequences should he be wrong, Ellix again didn't assume anything.

 _Thirty more minutes,_ Ellix told himself. If not, he would just fall asleep next to the fire. Normally he wouldn't dare sleep out in the open in fear of someone doing _something_ to him while he slept, like sleeping next to him or covering his body in ash so he'd wake up sneezing... _Cera_. However, over the course of the past four weeks that Selic's family had been here, no one had made any moves towards him. _Everyone_ tried something sometime or another, it was rather disgusting when Cera and, occasionally, even Mach got too close for comfort. The only dragon that didn't bother him was Ria, which he was more than grateful for. But despite all the negativity and seemingly inappropriate situations, it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be, and Ellix _knew_ that. In all honesty, it was nothing more than simple flirting, or encouragement in Mach's case. However, in Ellix's mind, his discomfort towards the subject multiplied these simple actions into something more perverted.

He often reflected on this; why was he blowing his situation so out of proportion? It wasn't like anyone was really trying to get him to participate, they were just insinuating it. Though, that's the part he didn't like. Even though his distaste towards this season was unparalleled by any other's, he couldn't help the random pop ups that would cloud his thoughts whenever some other family member suggested... _things_. So in a way, it was he who was making it so unbearable for himself. Heck, no one had even made a 'move' on him, just simple conversation and hints; and even then no one had just flat out said anything crude. It was all just hints! Little things that _he_ was using to fill in the blanks! But despite all the thought put into his own mental issues, one final argument is what really decided it for him: Were any of his family members truly easy to be around in the first place? And the answer was… no, they weren't. Therefore, he just tried to flat out avoid everyone, quite literally beating two 'evils' at once.

So with his thought processes finally settling Ellix actually began to enjoy the peace and quiet provided to him; resting his head on his forearms and letting the rare smile cross his mug. Once his position was satisfactory, he took a deep breath, releasing the air with a small, content sigh. However, the quick inhaling of air brought about the scent of the one thing he did _not_ want to smell right now, the sweet, addictive smell of a female dragon.

 _Oh please no,_ he begged inwardly, burying his face between his forearms and curling his tail around the left side of his body. What could one of the four be doing out right now! No one is ever out at midnight! Hopefully they were just going back to their section of the cave for the night or just going outside for a piss. Then, he remembered where he was in the cave system, the main chamber. In order to get anywhere else in the cave one had to go through this area. Ellix couldn't leave this area because then he would be entering one of the several main rooms that had the families in them, nor could he make a break for the outside due to the fact that it was well past midnight and he didn't want to be out there while neither moon was showing. He couldn't use his element because of the damn fire that he was so pleasantly enjoying, and despite the fact that the room was filled with fur mats, cabinets, boxes, and tables of varying sizes, none of them were even remotely large enough for him to hide in! Because that would be too convenient! In other words, he was screwed!

 _Please, anyone but Cera. Anyone else!_ Ellix pleaded. At least the others had some level of self control; if Cera walked around that corner and saw him, that was it, fucking flirt city. He could vividly remember when he was fourteen and Cera was her respective age. That was the year she entered her first heat, and the amount of times she had pulled him off to the side, tackled him, or tried to just flat out pressure him was unnerving. 'Why so red, Ellix? If you like it so much I bet I could help.' 'Eeeellliiixx! This itch won't go away. Can you help, please?' 'Ellix! Could you sleep in my room tonight? I keep getting nightmares.' Bitch, hell no! You're not getting nightmares, you _are_ the nightmare! The first thing he did when Mach arrived was use his red ass as a shield! Which, ended up working maybe a bit _too_ well. Fortunately, Ellix was forced out of his undignified musing when the tapping of claws against stone got closer. He began to sweat and started to shuffle away from the tunnel the sound was coming from, hoping to separate himself from whatever demon was about to come forth. No sooner had he started moving when the owner of the sound entered the chamber and he gave off a mental sigh of relief before letting shock overtake him.

Ria and Ellix locked eyes, both equally surprised to find the other where they were. For once, Ellix was the first to break the awkward stare; flicking his eyes back down to the fire beside him. _What is Ria doing out here?_ He wondered to himself, _She never leaves her section of the cave at night!_ Ellix began darting his eyes around rapidly, expecting an answer from the movements. Almost immediately afterward, his musing from before re-entered his brain. He had quite literally stated that Ria was the only one to not make a move on him yet. Then suddenly, BAM! Ria! He had jinxed himself! _Jinxed_! Hesitantly, he turned back around to face Ria, only to find her searching the stone cabinet that Vinea had made.

 _Okay, so she's just getting something to eat._ Relief washed over him when the thought of continued quiet entered his mind. Sadly, that hope was shattered when the tapping of approaching claws echoed throughout the room again.

Ellix didn't move, as he was too surprised, too surprised that Ria, of all the dragons he knew, would be the one that would approach him. It was so unlike her, despite the fact that over the past couple of weeks she had become surprisingly less shy, being able to actually make eye contact with others. However, even now she still wouldn't openly walk over to dragons. She'd often wait for them to pass by only to say something simple, like a greeting. Most of the time she still wouldn't actively participate in conversations, preferring to wait until directly called to. But even with the time to prepare her answers Ria would still stutter. It was if her mind would just shut down randomly, regardless if it was only for a moment, preventing her from completing sentence in a single thought. During his distraction he barely noticed that Ria had sat next to him and was now staring into the fire with him.

Another long, awkward silence fell between them. The only sound that could be heard was the fire's random crackling and popping. Neither moved, talked, nor made any gestures of any form towards the other. It was like both were in their own personal world, trapped within a bubble that allowed only thoughts to exist. Seconds whisked by, then minutes, and soon what felt like hours passed and neither had said a thing. In the midst of their silence, the fire had begun to die, but Ellix was too engrossed in his musing to notice.

"The f-fire's going to d-die," Ria eventually said, breaking the era-long silence between them. However, Ellix didn't hear her due to his unfocused focus. When Ria got no response, she tried again, only this time bumping him with her right wing. The contact awarded her with a sharp gasp from Ellix, who finally looked up, turning to her with an eye ridge raised. Ria yelped and jumped back at his sudden response, shrinking under his scrutinizing gaze and motioned over to the dying fire, which was all but embers now.

Slowly, he turned his sight to the fire, only to frown at the pathetic flames that poked at the burned logs. Sighing, he grabbed a few sticks with his tail and tossed them into the fire, then leaning down, he blew on the embers, making them glow brightly and ignite the sticks above them. With the fire again blazing the two dragons went back to their unresponsive staring. Ellix hoped that the strange silence would be all that came out of the one sitting next to him. He couldn't get the thought of how _unexpected_ her sudden arrival was out of his mind. This hadn't happened any other time, and he would know; you don't spend a full month getting six hours of sleep just for the kicks. He was also fairly damn certain that she wasn't getting bribed for doing this, because at that point her entire personality might as well have been destroyed. Yet here she was! Sitting right next to him, and now that she was this, close, the scent from before was just wafting into his nose, until he could smell practically nothing else.

 _Thank the ancestors I'm not affected by this as much as the others,_ he thought to himself, not daring to think about what would happen if he didn't have that resistance. Not so thankfully, his envisionments of lasting silence were ending when Ria shuffled to his left. _Please don't say anything. Two weeks, two more weeks until this is over!_ But as his prayer went out Ria decided to speak up.

"S-so Ellix," she started, then seeming as if she had forgotten what to say next, shuffled a rock at her paws, "what are _you_ doing out here so late?"

Ellix froze, could he actually tell her why he was out here? No, of course not, that would be an instant death sentence in the form of worry and grief… and possibly a heart attack. He needed an excuse and fast. Ellix began to work his mind, attempting to think of something, even the most simplistic and easily readable of fibs would work. Suddenly, a crisp, nightly wind came through the mouth of the cave, smacking him across the face as if saying, 'I'm right here'. Ellix paused for a moment, then began blinking rapidly as a thought hit him like a ton of bricks.

"I like the warmth of the fire," he said, trying not to allow the waver in his tone to show.

"Oh, that's the same reason I'm here," she replied nonchalantly, as if expecting his answer. "It was really cold in my section of the cave too."

As conversation died down again, Ellix let his mind wander. If he was going to be honest with himself, it wasn't all that cold in the cave, especially since it was the season of growth. Most nights it was warm enough for him not to have to sleep next to the fire, or with any form of heat source at all- it was more of a luxury than anything. Then he thought about what time it was. Courtship month. Okay, nothing really abnormal, at least nothing that would make one cold, except for maybe the cold sweat he got when Cera was in the same room as him. Next his thought went to what happens during this time and where dragons generally are: with another dragon. That was when he realized _why_ she was cold, or under the false impression of coolness. Putting two and two together, he came to the conclusion about why Ria was out here, and it wasn't so she could heat up... at least not around the fire.

 _Fuck,_ he sighed, shuffling nervously where he sat. He hoped that his idea was extremely wrong, otherwise his excuse from before had _probably_ not been the best one. At that moment, another small gust of wind swept through the cave. Ellix saw Ria _visibly_ shiver out of the corner of his eye, his thought process from before came into his head. His eyes widened when that process continued and he feared the worst.

 _Don't you dare! Just move closer to the fire!_ Ellix yelled internally. He just wanted to keep to himself. _I don't need someone getting all close now! Just two weeks!_

However, his fears were realized. Ria stopped shivering and 'unconsciously' slid towards him. Trying his best not to show his personal space intrusion-based panic attack by tensing up, his mind was a different story. Racing a thousand miles a minute, he tried to come up with some way to get out of the unnecessarily awkward situation. Darting his eyes around, Ellix looked for some kind of inspiration. However, during that specific point in time, everything in the room became instantly _useless_. Nothing in the entirety of the cavern seemed even remotely come close to helping him. A multitude of furs? Sure, let's walk over and smother her! A few wooden bowls filled with a variety of liquids? Well, he could make it rain for about two seconds. Hunting satchels? Why even bother thinking about them. Smooth, stone, cabinets and tables? Fucking pointless! Then, his eyes ran over the firewood pile. After mentally slapping himself for being so damn incompetent, he devised an escape plan.

Ellix glanced over to the firewood pile. Using the most casual motion he's ever made in his life, he slid over to the pile. Pausing for a moment, he slowly bent over and grabbed a small bundle of sticks with his maw, taking extreme care in getting as close to the pile as possible without seeming purposeful. Ellix then proceeded to toss the sticks into the fire, successfully moving away from Ria's aura of uneasiness _and_ fueling the dying fire.

 _Smooth Ellix, very smooth,_ he chuckled to himself inaudibly. Though his silent victory quickly vanished when Ria counterattacked. Apparently, she had been taking advice from Cera and Sapphire over the course of the past four weeks. Unfortunately, Ellix had been 'blissfully' unaware of this.

Every once in awhile, when she found the time to ask the other females, often as not their 'advice' was nothing more than just a simple conversation which escalated into something else. Luckily these discussions weren't uncomfortable, though they did get the point across. It wasn't like they were just flat out tell her how to… get him going, or really told her anything at all. Just random tidbits of information that she found useful. It was also due to these conversations that Ria had partially gotten over her shyness. Sadly, most of the time when she brought up Ellix during these talks, Cera gave her the cold shoulder, saying things like 'I don't know what you see in him,' but due to her cheery nature these dismissals were turned into neutral statements. Even though her attempts to get straight up tips were in vain, she still got some useful information, like using sly and rather common motions to try to get close to someone.

When Ria saw Ellix move away and grab more firewood she instantly knew what was happening. So, in response, she devised her own plot to get back next to him, and after a few moments of thinking, a simple yet clever idea came to her mind. Casually, Ria looked to the firewood pile, same as he had. Ellix noticed but shrugged it off. However, what happened next was completely unexpected. Ria shuffled back over next to Ellix, but before he could react, she continued her motion.

First, she snaked her tail underneath his wings. Once it was successfully placed, Ria used it to grab a piece of wood, effectively wrapping the appendage around Ellix's backside and hind legs. Then, once the log was secure, she brought her paw under his chin, brushing it slightly and took the wood from her tail's grasp. Now that the firewood was free, she let her tail fall limp, leaving it wrapped around him. Next, she scooted forward a small bit, causing her right flank to be forcefully ground against Ellix's left. Finally, Ria simply tossed the piece of wood into the fire and continued to stare off into the rising flames, acting as if nothing at all had just happened.

Ellix just sat in silence. The shock of what occurred in the last ten seconds prevented him from even comprehending that Ria's tail was now wrapped around him or that she was leaning on him. So instead, he stared into the fire, right eye twitching. The spots in which she touched him slightly tingled. Why? He didn't know, but it was fucking annoying, considering half his side was just gone! He also felt like vomiting, or at least had the sense of nausea. Though he couldn't throw up on Ria… right? Ellix then abruptly broke out of his flabbergasted state, blinking a few times which ended in a confused frown. Now recomposed, Ellix ran through the scene a couple times.

 _Okay, in all honesty, that, was WAY smoother than me,_ he started with a calm mind, _but since I'm being honest with myself right now, what the fuck!?_ As the thought ended with internal screaming, his body began to shake uncontrollably. Ria noticed Ellix 'shivering', and fortified her hold on him by wrapping one wing around him. Once the contact was made Ellix's right eye twitched again and he shrank forward to the point where his muzzle was less than a foot from the fire, but he was too shocked to move away.

Out of the limited number of things that could hold a place in Ellix's thoughts, one that stood out the most was: _How?_ He had just gotten out-slyed by _Ria_! Of everyone that could have beaten him at his own game, the most nervous, shy, scared, and generally weak-willed dragon did. That was just a flat-out sucker punch to his pride. There was _no_ way that she was pressured to do this, or bribed, or wanted, or _would_ ; she was just too shy! But that was the problem! This was her! She did this, on. Her. _Own_! And there were no flowers! The clear indicator of nervousness was not indicating! Doing something like this _had_ to make her uncomfortable. However, there was no proof that she was!

His second thought was: Why? Never, has Ria ever! Shown any sort of evidence that she liked him. Yeah, he was one of the only dragons she ever openly talked to but this is just something else. And the fact that she had _complete_ confidence while trying to seduce him was just another thing to add to Ellix's currently long list of shit he had to worry about. Was he just _that_ oblivious? Could he really be that ignorant towards what others viewed of him… yeah, he really could. It was, now that he thought about it, not that surprising. But even then, he should have seen this! Of all the things he should have seen coming, this would be at the top of the list!

His third thought was the one that he would need to think the most about and fast: what the heck is he going to do? He couldn't just let it happen, could he?

 _No!_ Ellix shouted inwardly, immediately blocking out the image of him and Ria together. How was he going to react then? She practically had him in a slightly-less-menacing death grip! He couldn't pull another firewood stunt, so what else. He began looking around the room again, albeit more frantically his time, hoping for the possibility that he had missed something. But sadly, as his eyes ran around, he again noticed _nothing_ that could assist him. It was still the middle of the night, so he doubted that he would be receiving any outside help. He didn't just want to get up and walk away, due to the fact that she had him in a deep pit, and if he did just leave she'd most likely start crying, and the one thing he had a soft spot for was crying. His element! However, he would take Ria with if he even tried, which he already knew would take an exceptional amount of energy to perform. Realizing he was in deep shit, Ellix started to sweat and his head became clouded.

O _kay Ellix,_ he began, c _alm down. You need to think! She hasn't gone any farther! It's like a hug! Yeah, yeah, a completely, friendly, non-sexual hug! Just like a blanket! A leathery wing blanket of shut the fuck up!_ Ellix half shouted half chuckled insanely at his own brain's weak attempt to make this seem as if it were not a problem, at least he was smiling now, but that smile quickly vanished.

Ria noticed Ellix's hardly visible smile. She had finally done it! Ria had gotten Ellix, who Cera defined as an ever angry ape behind with no sense of humor, to smile! The best part is that he didn't resist, as much as she thought, to her being _this_ close to him. For once in her life she didn't feel nervous, in fact, she hadn't felt uneasy throughout the whole ordeal, save for the first few sentences. She gave off a small hum of happiness as she remembered the last thing that her mother told her before she tried 'Just keep moving forward.' So, taking that advice again, Ria tied the knot, slowly leaning her head against Ellix's shoulder.

As Ellix felt the contact of her cheek on his shoulder he stifled a scream and his mind stuck in a loop: _no no no no no no no no no no no no no no_.

Ellix always had a problem with personal space. To him, it was almost more precious than his element. Now, Ria was encroaching on it, even though she had been before, it hadn't been to this extent. He needed to leave, now. Abruptly standing up, he knocked Ria's wing off and slowly started to walk backward.

"I-It's been nice talking to you Ria b-but…" he started as his brain failed him, his normally witty psyche breaking under pressure. Quickly he looked around for a reasonable excuse to leave, only to remember the time. "I-It's late and I'm really, really tired s-so I'm gonna go... now," Ellix voice quaked as he spoke the words he hoped would bring about his redemption.

Ria was dumbfounded. The dragon that was this close to being hers was now leaving because he was tired? However, instead of reacting to his statement, her mind went blank. What had she done wrong? Even if she hadn't come into this situation with a plan, everything up to his point had been fine! What was different!? Did she go too fast? Maybe the wing was too much? Did he just not like her _that_ much? The more she mulled over Ellix's words and the cause for them the closer to the caves entrance he got, but she had yet to escape from her self degrading thoughts. However, as realization hit, Ria snapped out of her bubble only to see that Ellix has backed up halfway to the entrance. Ria began to panic, she couldn't let him leave, so she says the only thing that she can think of.

"What? N-No!" Ria yelled, standing up and walking toward the tunnel with him. As she did, the stone around her feet began to crack and small plants started to grow from them. Ellix noticed the flowers growing from the rock and became even more unsettled.

"Yes." He said with a couple nods, his teeth clenched and wings tucked in tight. Then, in an attempt to change the subject, he continued speaking. "Maybe you should go back to sleep as well. You don't look very good."

It was true, she didn't look great, but it was not the sickly green color of illness, but rather the shocked expression of rejection. She had risked embarrassment from the others when she asked for advice, and the fear of being denied when she had came in no more than ten minutes ago, just to see if she could get close to him, and up until this point she _thought_ she had succeeded. Dread rose in her chest, now that she had a taste of failure, she wanted to remove it. All in all, she couldn't let him go, not this time.

Ria's mind raced, trying to think of a way to get Ellix to stay with her in the main chamber. A undisputedly difficult task considering that it was _Ellix_ that she was trying to convince, a dragon notoriously known for being stubborn and unwilling. Sadly, only one thing came even remotely close, but that was a last resort level of idea. Ria was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Ellix's expression change from one of nervousness to worry, and he began to turn around and head for the tunnel.

It wasn't until Ellix had fully turned around did Ria see him slowly creep away. Her eyes went wide and her mouth hung agape, she had lost him, or was so close to that it was pointless to try and stop him normally. Immediately a sense of defeat washed over her and tears started to brim up along the edges of her eyes. Ria attempted to follow after him but was stopped by an unseen force, as if the world itself was denying her. As her last hope started to fade, she bowed her head and cried, causing the small cracks that had flowers in them to close, killing the plants they had held. However, her thought from before returned to her mind, halting the excess production of tears. She looked up to Ellix's shifting frame and bit her lip, hoping he would forgive her for this.

Ellix let out a sigh of relief. Though it pained him to hear Ria's muffled sobs, his fear filled conscience blocked it out enough for him to escape. Now relatively confident that Ria wouldn't try anything else, Ellix turned his back and walked farther towards the tunnel. He thought a bit about why Ria would even want to be with him, since he often received negative comments about his behavior from the others, it was a wonder that she would even want to be near to him, not that he had wanted that in the first place.

Suddenly, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of claws clicking upon rock. Curiously, he turned his head to see Ria, charging full speed right at him. Ellix barely had time to register what was happening and adjust his expression before Ria leaped into the air. Acting on instinct, Ellix twisted around and started to dash towards the outside, only for Ria to fall on top of him like a boulder the instant he started moving, pinning him belly down. Dazed, Ellix shook his head, clearing the stars that had formed on the edges of his vision. It wasn't until a few seconds after did he feel the full weight of the pink-trimmed dragoness bearing down upon him.

"Ria!" He shouted from under her, "What are you doing?!" When the only response he got was a wrapping of forearms and hind legs he began to seize up. "Ria!" He cried out again, struggling to stand up, but the combined weight was too much. "Ria get off!"

Sadly, his complaints were in vain. After a few more attempts, he finally managed to stand up. Ellix tried to crane his neck around to see Ria and her death grip, but sadly couldn't due to a specific lima snout placed between his horns, effectively pinning his head in the forward position. Ellix began to hyperventilate, his breathing further labored by Ria's tighthold. He began to shake in an attempt to remove her from between his wings. However, his assailant would have none of it, and held firm, but soon thereafter she felt herself begin to slip. Her claws already holding as tight against him as possible, there was only one thing left to do. Quickly, she coiled her tail around his own and pressed her wings down across him, using her extra appendages to wrap her body across his own as if she were a blanket.

"I'm sorry!" Was the only answer she gave.

Ellix had no idea how to take that. Here she was, containing him with a field of flesh, limiting his movement to just stuttered walking, preventing him from expressing his utter disdain for that was happening! 'I'm sorry' is not an adequate excuse!

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't go!" she continued to plead, not that it changed his opinion.

So here he was, trapped. Trapped within the wings of another dragon who, from what he could tell, wasn't going to let go anytime soon. Ellix began to stumble around the chamber, the uneven weight atop him making balance increasingly difficult. He had to free himself, not only for his own sanity, but to save himself from future embarrassment... _Cera_! Slowly, Ellix approached one of the stone tables in the room, as he neared it he gave one last call up to Ria before enacting his impromptu panic plan.

"Ria! Get. Off!" He yelled before ramming his side into one of the table's legs. Ria let off a sharp yelp as her side was forcefully bashed against the cold ground. However, despite the pain, her grasp only tightened around his neck. Ellix was also damaged by the sudden self-destruction, but seeing that his plan failed prevented any real pain from reaching his mind. Throwing himself into even more of a panic, he began running to random objects in room before ramming his sides across them. Each hit from the panicked ramming only granted Ellix an even more constricted chest, and the harder Ria held, the more desperate he became. Soon, with his adrenaline at its max, he was rolling both of them around, jumping into the air and letting them both fall to the ground, but nothing seemed to deter the persistent female.

After about five minutes of crashing, breaking furniture, and yells, the rest of the family started to awake. Mach was the first to enter the room, followed by Cera. Both dragons were still tired, but more so annoyed that they had been woken from their peaceful slumber. However, any dreams of butterflies and rainbows were immediately crushed to dust as Ellix flew past their respective faces, snapping the dazed dragons to reality. With wide eyes, both watched Ellix destroy the living room of the cave system. Too dumbfounded to speak, they only stared at the destruction ensuing in front of them, luckily Cera was faster to snap out of her awe.

"What's going on here!?" She yelped, eyes just as wide if not more so than Machs own. "Mach!" She yelled turning to her consort. "Do something!"

Mach couldn't say anything, his mouth just hung agape and he shook his head slowly as if to say, 'How would I even begin.' It was at this moment that the four adults entered the room, each one rubbing their eyes from sleep and stopping right behind the two shocked dragons. The sound of a vase breaking brought everyone's head up. Each one had their own unique expression, Sapphire's maw fell as she gazed upon her half-destroyed living room. Joule just sat on his haunches and brought one paw to his muzzle as he watched Ellix continue to run, unaware of their presence. Vinea's left eye twitched, all of the furniture, all of that effort, ruined. Selic was disgusted, and to show his disgust, he took a deep breath through his maw and vociferated.

"What the _fucking_ hell!?" he bellowed. The sound reverberated around the cave, but no one even twitched at the sound. But despite everyone's reaction he continued. "Ellix! I swear I'll _freeze_ your sorry ass!"

It was at this moment that Ellix froze, stopping in the middle of the chamber. Everyone fell silent, shocked that Selic's threat actually worked for once. No one moved or spoke, even the sound of breathing was muted. However, Ellix's brain was miles from silence, the main sound that kept repeating was what Selic said, 'Freeze', and realization hit him; the fire was dead. Abruptly, he turned to the nearest wall, a thousand mile stare on his mug.

Selic, thinking that Ellix had finally calmed down, noted the thing no one else had and commented on it.

"Alright," he started, his voice still filled with quiet ire, "now Ria, get off him." At these words, the room was filled with a collective raise of gazes and gasps.

None of these words reached Ellix's ears, but when Ria heard them she sighed, and loosened her grip on his waist. Ellix, up to this point, had been stoically facing the shadow covered wall. Feeling Ria's hold lessen, he lurched forward, charging full speed at the cavern wall. Ria's eyes widened and she re-latched onto Ellix's back much harder than before, accidentally raking him with her claws and drawing blood. Ellix heard Selic's angry shouting from behind but paid it no heed. As he reached the wall everyone's eyes once again widened and the yelling stopped; each dragon favoring to watch as he sank into it's surface.

Ria squeaked as her limbs went numb and her vision took a one eighty, from color to grayscale as Ellix entered the shadow realm.

However, the feeling of numbness didn't last long. Quickly, they resurfaced in the middle of the room, jumping high into the air before arcing back down and opening another portal, and then again, and again, and again. Each time the two would exit the earth would shake, not from Ellix, but from Ria. She was creating small holes in the cave within which small plants and flowers grew in response to her fear. Each of the gawking family members were silent, as one was just as shocked as the next. At this point, Sapphire had closed her mouth and was shuddering along with Vinea. Joule remained impassive, while Selic had stopped attempting to get Ellix or Ria to quit destroying the area and just sat with him.

For minutes conversation was void, everyone was so intently watching Ellix display his power that no one noticed the time between jumps increase and Ellix start to stumble after each one. At this point the room was _completely_ destroyed. All the stone furniture and containers had been reduced to rubble. There were more than a dozen cracks in the ground, each one spewing it's own variety of nature. The many bowls and their contents had been spilt around the room and even the bags used for hunting were half torn apart. During the fiasco Selic could have sworn- which he did- that he saw a small fox jump out of one of the cracks and scurry out of the cave, and jump _off_ the cliff face, but no one else heard him yell. But regardless, for the umpteenth time, Ellix burst out of the floor in the center of the room, crashing to the ground chest first.

Ellix laid on the floor panting heavily after the constant use of his element for the past five minutes. He was beyond exhausted and sometime during the event his element had uncontrollably turned on him, causing his whole body to end up numb. Ria was also pretty beaten up, even though Ellix had taken most of the hits and had somehow reversed some of the effects of his element allowing her to continue to have feeling despite being in the shadow realm, she still had a gathering of visible bruises and nicks. But even with these benefits, her exhaustion was just as bad, and with a loud grunt, she fell off of Ellix's back and onto the floor.

Ellix, with his muzzle planted into the dirt, and his body still numb, didn't feel Ria fall off his back. Instead, his mind decided to play a cruel trick, making it feel as if a phantom Ria was still bearing down upon him. Shakily, he stood back up and- much to the surprise of the others- faced the wall. He stared for a few moments still panting, then before anyone could react, charged the rock again. However, he had used up all of his elemental energy over the course of the last few minutes. Abruptly, and with no regard to his own safety, Ellix headbutted the stone with a sickening crack and fell unconscious before he hit the ground.

For the next three minutes the only sound that the dragons could hear was the labored breathing of Ria, who was shockingly still awake on the floor of the cave. The blades of grass that had sprouted from the cracking in the earth still grew despite her ailments and continued to swish from the small breezes that would enter periodically. Slowly, the stunned family members recomposed themselves. Selic, who was the least stunned, due to his temperament, started to walk out of the tunnel entrance and into the chamber, weaving his way around the nature filled fissures and a large tree that had grown out of the fire pit, walking as if they didn't exist. He stopped right above Ria, who did little to acknowledge his existence. He slowly looked over his daughter's frame, noticing a few bruises that covered her side. He then looked up to Ellix's passed out body, this time he winced at the multitude of self-induced cuts, bruises, and bumps that covered his figure. He turned back down to Ria, failing to notice the other dragons had walked up beside him.

"Ria?" Vinea asked in a squeaky voice, her face clearly expressing her apprehensive feelings.

Ria cracked her eyes open to look at her stunned mother. Realizing she had been spoken to, Ria stifled a weak grunt before closing her eyes again. As soon as her eyes closed Vinea jumped, all the shock that had previously existed had now been replaced with worry for her daughter. Scooping Ria up in her massive paws, Vinea proceeded to carry Ria from the main chamber and the still tense eyes of the others, sobbing all the way. The rest of the group stood in the main chamber, now staring at the limp body of Ellix, which twitched every so often. Eventually, Selic had had enough of the strange silence, and walked off with his mate, shaking his head at the stupidity of the moment. Sapphire had moved up against Joule, who thoughtlessly wrapped a wing around her, securing her in his tight embrace as they watched their son's unconscious sleep. Mach and Cera, who been the only ones actually talking during this time, where now conversing about whether or not to just leave him there. Mach, being the kind soul he his, vouched to move Ellix back to his area of the cave while Cera said they should just leave him there.

Both parents eventually started to overhear the younglings' rambling, yet neither showed any indication of such. Instead, they continued to watch Ellix's chest rise and fall as he breathed. Soon, the argument became heated, and their shouting could be heard throughout the cave system, the sound echoing around the walls repeating itself several times before coming to a halt. Suddenly, Joule doubled back- repeating something Cera said several times before- finally opening his mouth and giving his own shout.

"Do we even _know_ what just happened!?" He yelled, releasing a shocked ice dragoness from his grip, "Seriously! Does _any_ of this even make _any_ sense!?" Joule's body was now shaking with frustration. "Just look at this place! There are _cracks_! In the floor! With _grass_ growing out of them!" He shouted in continued annoyance, pointing his wings in all directions to bring attention upon the lush field that now grew in their living room. "There's even a _tree_ growing in the fire pit!" His tone accurately displaying his incredulous feelings as he now faced the massive tree that went all the way to the roof of the cavern. "And why the hell was Ria, _riding_ Ellix?!" His anger now showing, "He never lets anyone touch him! Even when he was a hatchling! And what the hell was he even _doing_ out here! It's past, _midnight_!" Joule was now pacing across the room, much to the worry of his mate and the utter surprise of Mach and Cera. "On a further note, what was Ria doing out here!" He now turned to face Mach, staring him dead in the eye. "Riddle me that Mach, you're her brother, you should know. Why did Ria, wake up in the middle of the night, walk into the living room, and _attack_ Ellix?!"

Mach stared, shocked, at the electric dragon for a few moments. Not once during the time he'd known Joule had he even witnessed this kind of outburst from the calm, collected dragon. But taking to his words, Mach began to run through the possibilities in his head. There was no joke, it was strange, for the both of them. Even so, it was something that had to be looked into. Within a few seconds Mach had come up with a few possibilities. One being that Ria had, in fact, attacked Ellix; others being less... applicable. After few more moments of thinking yielded to him no more results, Mach inhaled deeply, calming his disbelieving nerves. Taking the ideas he had and expanded them, he eventually crossed out the first two and leaving him with one last, idea, though it was certainly the strangest and simultaneously it happened to be most likely. Slowly wiping the uncertainty from his mind, Mach recomposed himself the proceed to give Joule his most flat, calm look.

"Ria didn't try to attack Ellix." He said slowly, keeping his voice as monotone as possible, trying not to give away his own disbelief, but instead attempting to instill a voice of confidence. Mach let the comment sit for a sixth of a minute. He watched everyone unconsciously lean forward in anticipation, closing the circle they had formed around him. Mach, now feeling claustrophobic, swallowed hard. Not wanting to say the answer himself, but the beady eyes of the staring dragons caused him to snap. "She tried to seduce him."

* * *

For the next six hours Ellix slept with neither knowledge of the outside world nor that of his family. Not the slightest thing disrupted him while he was unconscious, mainly because his body was still senseless, and the warmth of the surrounding cushions kept him slumbering with cordial comfort. The surrounding environment continued its night time routine, the sound of crickets could be heard, the outside air would push the trees around, and occasionally a frog would make an appearance, but other then those things the night was peaceful. However, it was nearing morning, but the light was dim and the air still slightly chilled.

Ellix snapped to consciousness, but his eyelids remained closed. He had no need to open them, his whole body ached, and that's all he needed to know. His head was pounding with a massive headache and all four of his legs were sore with the numbness of running. His wings and tail were both completely paralyzed, but since his head was still fogged, he thought nothing of it. Instead, Ellix just decided to lay there, letting the anaesthetic-like substitute of sleepiness and a headache pass from his mind.

After many minutes of quiet, Ellix had recovered enough of his consciousness to right his thoughts.

Before he could begin, the pain from all the lacerations and bruises that covered his frame decided to come forth. Ellix winced on instinct, expecting the pain to be unrelenting, yet strangely enough, he only received a minor amount of discomfort. Quickly relaxing from his unnecessary tense up, Ellix began to recall his memories from what seemed like minutes ago. Skipping the relaxation in front of the fire and going straight to the part where Ria came in. Ellix scowled, ignoring the blackened image his eyelids provided, and instead viewing the mental picture of the dragon that practically put him in this position.

Ria. The name almost sounded disgusting in his mind. He continued with the memory, stopping again at the part in which she leaned against him. Ellix bit his bottom lip and cringed. He did _not_ want to think about that right now, it would just make him feel worse, but as he continued his recollection of the past few hours his mood declined automatically. The last thing he could remember was coming out of the shadow realm and seeing the whole of both families staring at him.

It was at this moment that his surroundings became a bit more clear to him. Despite the fact that his eyes were still closed, he felt the soft touch of pelts on his left flank. This small piece of information was enough for him to conclude that he was on a mat, not on the hard, rocky floor of the main chamber. The thought of the central chamber caught his attention, because it was the area in which the whole event had happened, he knew that something had to have happen to it. Ellix was unable to _actually_ pay attention to what happened to the living room after the thing with Ria started, due to his panic attack, but as he fished through his thoughts his scowl turned to a look of shock.

He recalled the whole living area to have been destroyed. The room was filled with multiple cracks with anything from grass to rose bushes growing in them. Small trees also took root in the torn chamber, many of them having their tops cut off. One tree caught his mind's eye, it was the largest of them all and was growing directly out of the fire pit, it was also the only one that didn't have its top cut off. Piles of stone and fur littered the floor, the most concentrated built ups around areas where he remembered furniture being. The last thing he had witnessed was the shocked look on everyone's muzzles as they gazed at the obliterated room.

What was he supposed to tell them? They were no doubt angry, each for their own reasons. Mach and Cera were going to be the least angry of the bunch. Mach might blow a fuse. Cera would just laugh at him, like usual. He could handle the scolding his parents gave him and the weird punishments that Vinea dished out. But the combined anger of all the adults? That might not end as well. And what about Ria. He lingered on that thought longer than he would have wished. What was he going to tell her, she would no doubt be heartbroken. Seeing the dragon she wanted to be with reacting to her efforts in such a way.

Ellix cringed, he had once again implied the one thing that he did not want, and had also gone as far as to think about a way to make it up to her. _No!_ He screamed to himself, _She did this, not you._ At the previous thought Ellix felt slightly guilty, he remembered her crying. But quickly shook the thought from his head, not wanting it to affect him anymore. He then turned his undivided attention back to think of excuses as to why he took the living room and snapped it like a twig. After only a few seconds of thinking, his monster of a headache returned, blocking all thoughts from his mind.

The more the pounding in his head increased, the more he wanted it to go away. Being unable to bear the feeling of a stone slab on his forehead, Ellix brought his paw up to his temples, or at least he tried to. His whole body was still numb from his whole element screw-up. Luckily, it had subsided enough for him to regain control of his muscles. But when he couldn't move his forearm up to his head, he grew concerned.

 _I might have screwed myself up more than I thought,_ he cringed to himself as his mind wandered to the other injuries on his body. But undeterred by his own failure, Ellix tried to move his forearm again. This time, he felt the fuzzy feeling one gets when a limb 'falls asleep'. Now feeling satisfied that he did in fact have some control over his limb he tried again, only with more force. Once again, he was met with the feeling of paresthesia, but as it subsided, he was met with another, more concerning sense, the pressure created by weight.

His attitude dropped, he no longer felt the painful headaches that ravaged his mind, nor did he pay any notice to the multitude of wounds that covered him. Instead his full attention was given to the new information placed in front of him. Something was on _top_ of his forearm. With his eyes still closed, he ran through some possibilities. His first thought is that he was still inside the main chamber of the cave system, and he was laying atop one of the fur piles, then a rock had 'mysteriously' landed on his forearm. Another, more serious thought, was that his family had him shackled down with something because they were angry. He quickly tested this theory by moving his other forearm. To his surprise he could move it without any trouble, and he easily began moving it about the large bump that he figured was what was holding his other limb prisoner.

He dragged his free forearm up to his forehead and gave it a soothing rub, slightly negating the headache that had already begun to subside. He next brought it to his eyes and wiped the crust from them with a few careful claw strokes. With his eyes now free of their confinements, he opened them, and quickly found himself staring at the familiar ceiling of his area in the cavern.

Throwing all of his previous theories out the window, Ellix glanced to the small hole that allowed light into the room. He found that very little came through. He concluded that it was still early in the morning, therefore none of the other family members were awake yet, which he thanked nothing in particular for greatly. Ellix tried to move his left forearm up to his face but once again found it constricted. Now that he had his eye open and properly dilated, he was able see what was preventing him. He pointed his muzzle downwards, allowing his annoyed eyes to view upon his prison.

Ellix did not like what he saw and stifled a scream. The unapparent weight that had been holding his forearm down was not just a simple rock or binding, but rather another dragon. Somehow, he had failed to notice the subtle breathing and movements of the sleeping creature that had it's head _buried_ in his chest. Too paralyzed to move, Ellix instead stared wide-eyed at the unconscious dragon. The light in the cave was dim, but his eyes had adjusted just enough for him to make out the brightly colored scales of Ria. Ellix wanted to vomit, but his empty stomach only produced a muffled dry heave.

Despite the contractions in his belly, Ellix didn't move. His brain was once again on overdrive, much like it had been when Ria had first invaded his personal space. However, that was different, she was only next to him at during that point in time, now, she was practically _inside_ of him. Ellix only continued to stare, not wanting to believe what he was seeing, but sadly his own sense of feeling betrayed him as he could now feel her breath on his chest.

The feeling caused another sense of nausea to well up inside of him, but before another dry heave could be released, he was interrupted by his bed-mate, who started to jostle in her sleep. Ellix lost all feeling of sickness the moment she moved, instead, he was broken out of his shocked state and was able to more freely assess the predicament he was in. He was now able to clearly perceive how she had him locked. First of all, she was lying on his left forearm, that was clear enough, he already knew that his right forearm had been wrapped around her, much to his distaste. However, as he studied his own sense of feeling more, he found that she was also lying on his left wing. Now that his thoughts were on his wings, he looked to his right one, finding it securely wrapped around Ria's left flank.

Once again, Ellix almost vomited, but found nothing but a small bit of stomach acid in his mouth, which he reluctantly swallowed. With one quick, fluid motion, he brought his right wing off her body, holding it straight up in the air, not allowing it to touch anything else. Sadly, as his wing was removed Ria sensed the loss of warmth emanating from it. So, in response, she instinctively pressed her body closer to his, moving her head to sit in the crook of his neck and coiling her tail around his. Ellix inhaled deeply before raising his muzzle off the top of her head. He then opened a small shadow portal, stuck his head inside, and hurled.

 _I'm going to murder Cera after this,_ vexed thoughts filled his mind as he slowly pulled his head out of the shadow realm. His normally white cheek scales had turned a shade greener and he was breathing heavily. His maw was agape and he still had a small bit of bile in his mouth, which upon recovering his breath, he swallowed, only letting a small amount hit the floor. With a more recomposed attitude, he tilted his head sideways, allowing him to observe Ria and not touch her head. Somehow, she had remained completely unfazed by his sudden sickness, having not moved an inch and apparently being content with her current position.

Once again, Ellix grew nervous watching her sleeping form. His heart rate increased and his breathing became erratic. However, just before it seemed he would explode with pressure, Ellix calmed himself. Somehow, during his panic, Ellix's thoughts moved to a few seconds ago, when he had opened the portal to puke into. All thoughts of distress from not being able to get out of the death grip that Ria had him in faded, and a shimmer of hope appeared as the energy that had been drained from his body could be felt again. As hopeful as the situation now seemed, his ability was still fairly limited, he just hoped it would be enough to get out.

In order for his plan to work and also not wake Ria, he needed to keep her _completely_ still. The fact that she was cradling him within her forearms was pretty evident that she wasn't going anywhere fast. However, he'd rather be safe than sorry, so in response to his thought, he slowly lowered his right wing back around Ria, being ever so careful as to not jostle her. Ellix shut his eyes and exhaled deeply as his wing made contact with her flank. Sadly, the situation only got worse, as soon thereafter, Ria felt the warmth from his wing return and snuggled herself _even_ _closer_ to him, now forcefully putting her head under his own.

 _Under what circumstance!_ He thought to himself, helpless as she continued to wrap her front paws around his lower neck, making it even more clear that her subconscious mind didn't want him going anywhere.

 _Sorry, Ria,_ he said with a half attempted laugh, _but I'm leaving whether you like it or not._ Ellix then put all his effort into channeling his remaining power into one last portal. Ria, who remained asleep, continued to burrito him from under his own wing, completely unaware of his plan. As Ellix channeled the rest of his energy, he felt the unconscious back legs of Ria start to move.

With one long, deep breath Ellix activated his ability, dipping them both into the shadow realm. Ellix was consumed by darkness, but to him it was familiar. However, if Ria had been awake at the time, she'd most likely be flipping her shit. With the two of them now completely inside the portal, tails and all, Ellix held his breath, hoping that she was still asleep. After a second of waiting with no motions from the pink terror, he felt safe. Ria's grip loosened, making it obvious to him that the numbness was starting to take effect on her sleeping body. Ellix began to work his magic, taking his wing off her body. Next he raised his head and used it to nudge Ria's now limp paw off his side. Luckily she hadn't gotten her back legs wrapped around him. Now with his upper body half free he changed his focus down to his tail, which he had a hard time freeing from Ria's own.

Ellix could feel the strain on his body from the overuse of his limited power. As a last act of desperation, he used the final drops of energy that resided in him to help roll Ria up and off, allowing him to slide his left wing and forearm out from under her. Now free from the death trap that was her body, Ellix struggled to stand, releasing his hold on the shadow realm. He stumbled a few feet away from where Ria was still asleep and fell over, removing himself and Ria from the shadow realm.

Ellix was laying on the floor of the cave, panting heavily. He now had nothing left in his energy reserves and it was taking its immense toll for being used up twice in the same day. However, he knew he couldn't stay here, being around his family during Courtship month was hard enough, but this had been the last straw. He needed to leave, at least till the month was over; he'd deal with their anger then, when everyone was less inclined to jump him. Ellix shakily stood back up, turning around to make sure Ria was still asleep. A pang of guilt crossed his heart as he gazed upon Ria's figure, which was now curled up on itself, shivering.

 _Maybe she really was just cold,_ he began to think, taking a small step back towards the pile of furs. However, before he could plant his foot, a warm breeze came from outside. Ellix snapped his head to the small hole in the roof of the cave, it now had a much more substantial amount of light filing out of it. Worry overtook him again as he thought about the other members of his family. Ellix did a double take and hobbled out of the room and into the main chamber. However, before he could even take a single step, his left paw landed upon something cold and slippery. His reaction barely changed as he fell jaw-first onto the sheet of ice below him. The small amount of momentum generated by the failure pushed him forward across the ice and as he came to a stop, Ellix reopened his eyes and one name came to mind.

 _Cera…_

He didn't even need to think about why she would do this. It was obvious enough. When he had passed out, the family had desiced to leave him there, or she had convinced them otherwise. Then, when everyone else was asleep, she created a roadway of ice in order to guide his unconscious form into his room. And he was assuming Ria was there because his mother thought it would be a better idea to let her use it due to the fact that _he_ certainly wasn't! Because she _loves_ to play matchmaker! Clearly what happened! With a miffed huff, Ellix regained his footing and continued down the tunnel.

Taking the short amount of time he had, Ellix bent one wing over his head and into his vision, examining the extent of the damage done. He cringed slightly when the all too familiar green of a Lavik leaf, a common plant used in covering wounds, came into sight along with small dribbles of the brown antiseptic paste made from its roots. Letting the wing fall limp, he repeated the process with its twin, only to find similar injuries. A sigh managed to escape his maw as the soft tickle of the plant life became apparent on his sides and other appendages. He really did mess himself up more than he had thought. At least his family had enough decency to treat his wounds. Though he had no more time to dwell on the thought, as soon thereafter he found himself at the entrance of the central living area.

As he stepped into the main chamber, he stopped to observe the damage that he had done to the place, and at first glance, it was worse than he had remembered. Even if one excluded the piles of rubble, cracks in the earth, trees and other assorted plants the room was a disaster. He noted that most of the walls had the tops of trees and in some cases the tree itself sticking out of the rock, creating semi-sharp spikes that impaled other plants. The pieces of furniture that had contained food were now destroyed and thrown across the room, along with their contents, giving the room a meaty smell. Finally, the huge tree that had grown in the fire pit was now smoldering, obviously having caught fire during the night.

Ellix looked over the room in horror, but another draft brought his attention back to the freedom that was the outside world. He turned back to the destroyed room and got an idea. He might as well let the already angry dragons that were his family and 'friends' know that he was leaving for the time being. He was stubborn, but not stupid. So he dragged his paws over to the large, still burning tree in the middle of the room. He found a piece of bark that was relatively intact and ripped it off. Slowly, he brought the large piece of wood over to the cave entrance and started to scratch a note on its inside.

After a few minutes of careful scratching, he finished the note and left it out in the open. Then walking to the cave system's entrance and stopped, turning around if just for a moment to to the fucked-over room. He let loose a long sigh before whipping back around with a scowl. Bending his jaw around, he grasped the bandages covering his right wing with his teeth and tore them off, repeating the process with his other wing. With distaste fueling his energy-deprived body, Ellix opened his wings and took flight. As he reached a gliding altitude, he let his thoughts wander, trying to think of a good place to rest his head for the remainder for the night. He remembered a large waterfall not too far off from his current path, but far enough that if his family did look for him, it would be one of the last places they'd check. So, with his mind almost unresponsive, and his body screaming for rest, he angled his path towards the gleaming waters of the Silver River.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **And the third chapter has been read. Unless you count the A/N's as part of the chapter, in which case… no one really reads the whole chapter. Hmm.**

 **Ssethelis: Really? That's how you're going to put it? Rude.**

 **Well fine! But by that logic even I don't read entire chapters! So fuck me! I'm a hypocrite! Even though I didn't scold anyone! Ignore me though, it's not like my words really mean all that much. Since it's the characters that speak to you.**

 **Ssethelis: If your words don't mean much… how do you expect people to read thousands at a time?**

 **I don't. I really don't. If people want to read this. Then thanks! Thank you very much. I appreciate it. For those who don't, well then, why are you still here? Don't lie to yourself! If you got this far than you must have some interest in this story!**

 **Ssethelis: Also! That one point in paragraph #77 where it says "Lush field," that used to be "Lust field." Many smiles from all around.**

 **Ssethelis: And, in spite of 'Knock's repeated disapprovals, I still think Mach should have blatantly made a pass at Ellix. I mean, basically everyone else did, so why not Mach?**

 **Thanks for pointing that out Sseth, totally necessary. Anywho! One more thanks from the peeps at The AFK Pool!**

 **MakeSureToKnock, Ssethelis, Hacodeman (as well as his shit), & Aetheo (who managed to fish his way into this.)**

 **Aetheo: I'm late to the party. But that means I get to play drunk-tipping. (Like cow-tipping, but with drunk people)**

 **Jesus.**

 **Aetheo: *Knocks Author over***


	4. Two Different Worlds

**A/N:**

 **Hello, people of the internet! It is I! Your… lord… and savior, here to bring you yet another chapter of DBD! Now, just as a heads up, this chapter is-**

 **Ssethelis: -A perspective switching switcharoo boogaloo!**

 **Can I be done… now. After that… I got nothing. Literally summed it up. I suppose we could rant a bit… if you'd like.**

 **Ssethelis: Nah.**

 **No? Okay, then… Well, shit. I really, truly, have nothing. Wait! I know! We could make an A/N on nothing at all! It would just be five or six indentations and a few ellipses.**

 **Ssethelis: So… like one of your chapters but a little fewer words?**

 **Someone call the fire department! We got fourth-degree burns in here!**

 **Ssethelis: Fourth-degree? Call the coroner instead.**

 **Hold on… I'll call Cody.**

 **Hacodeman: GOD DAMMIT IM TRYIN' TO PLAY SOME FUKIN' LEAGUE YOU ASSHO-...**

 **God damn-... and kick. He's still feeling a bit sensitive from the last chapter. I swear, the guy can hold a grudge better than Inigo Montoya. Fucking love that movie. Watch that shit if you haven't.**

 **Ah! Random thought! We didn't put this in the last A/N, and I feel like a dick for not remembering. It was Sseth's B-Day that weekend! So you know, give him late cake and stuff. We need it for the rituals.**

 **Just a few more things before we start. First, some reader by the name of 'Surprise' ask a question he wanted me to answer in the notes.**

 **Dear unknown man/woman/nondescript entity who doesn't have an FF account but goes by the name of 'Surprise.'**

 **Yes.**

 **There will be. However, it takes a** _ **long**_ **time. As in, not in this book, if you will.**

 **Alright! I think that's it. Other than the disclaimer and the random tip of the week… so, enjoy.**

 **I seriously own nothing! I keep telling you people this! NOTHING! Fuck! I'm not even wearing a shirt right now! How the hell could I own** _ **anything**_ **Spyro related! Because that's relevant! Focus!**

 **Ah, there… but wait!**

 **FIRE THE NAPALM TORPEDOES! THEY'RE SUPER EFFECTIVE!**

 **God damnit! You sunk my destroyer!**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Two Different Worlds**

Kein awoke late the next morning mumbling incoherently to himself. He had been woken up several times in the middle of the night only to discover that he was still in the strange world from the day before. Not only that, but apparently during the night some kind of deer, or he thought it was a deer- hoof marks and stuff- had passed by. Somehow, it had managed to open his bag, and ate the shit out of his notebook and part of his handkerchief plus a few pieces of eraser. Because no matter where he goes, _something_ just has to fuck his day up. He had spent at least thirty minutes walking around the beach looking for the very important equipment the deer had flung around. During this venture to recollect his stolen items, Kein had been able to get a better look at the area surrounding the waterfall than he had during dusk the previous day.

The trees around him had changed from when he first started. They had taken on a more willowy look and become more dense. On top of this, the color of the trees themselves was much darker than the vibrantly shaded oak trees from yesterday. Making the overall appearance of the forest more moody, mysterious, and mystical. However, those weren't the only things that had changed. The underbrush that surrounded the trees had gotten drastically _less_ dense, favoring a tall grass-like look rather than the small shrubs and bushes that were previously present. That wasn't the weirdest part, though. The thing that got him the most was that the river had inexplicably _changed_ _color_ at some point, making its surface a crystal blue. A stark contrast to the shining silver it was the night before. To make the river even more of an anomaly, when he went to take a morning drink, he found the water to be savory. Quite contradictory to the intense sweetness it had before.

This all took place earlier in the morning. It was now, from what he could tell, around noon. Slowly, Kein strode over to the last visible item that lay on the beach; the other half of his white handkerchief. He brought his hand down and grasped the towel with an irked grip. Completely ignoring the saliva and sand that now stuck to its dirty surface. He then walked down to the river's edge and went into a seated crouch. Leaning forward, Kein dunked the mucus-coated ragin the silver water. After giving it a few disgusted looks and a lot more scrubs he pulled it out before squeezing it into a small ball and letting the clear water flow out.

Now that the handkerchief was thoroughly dried he pulled out its other half. With the skill of a ring maker, he examined both sides down to the last detail, making sure that there was no more filth on them. Satisfied with their cleanliness, Kein quickly stuffed both halves into one pocket and spun back around to face the forest. He scanned the surrounding area for the umpteenth time that morning, expecting to see the stupid deer which had eaten his satchel contents earlier. If there was one thing he learned from living around nature in his hometown, it was that once an animal had found a food source, they would keep coming back until it was gone. Having seen the way that deer had thrown his stuff around, it was easy to say that it would most likely be returning.

But not a moment after his thought process began, a sound from down under interrupted his thoughts. His expression softened and he turned his gaze down to his gut. Letting out a small chuckle, he left all feelings of distaste for his predicament on the doorstep. He hadn't had any form of solid food during his whole experience in this world. His only sustenance being the hopefully sugar-filled waters of the river. Luckily for his hunger, he had identified a large tree which- from what he could tell- grew an edible fruit. Well, he guessed it was edible. Mainly due to the multitude of birds that could be seen flying to and from the tree as well as the fact that trees needed to spread their seeds. Having a seed encased in a fruit would be a bit counterproductive if it was inedible. Also, considering some of the things that the twins have put in his food, he would take inedible fruit any day.

Kein's stomach grumbled again, reminding him of the whole reason he thought of the tree. Securing his satchel around his shoulder, he began to walk down the beach in the direction he had seen the plant. After a solid minute of walking the beach turned to gravel and the river took a bend. His item of desire was right around the corner. With newfound excitement, he jogged the rest of the way to the waiting tree. Coming to a halt directly underneath its largest leaf.

The palm tree stuck out like a sore thumb amongst toes. The thing was the very definition of a palm tree. It had four identical leaves; each of which being at least two meters long and half a meter wide. One long vein ran the whole length of each frond, with smaller veins growing out of it. Due to the leaves' incredible size, they drooped down from the main stem. The trunk seemed to be made of a hard, dense, bark-like wood. Yet upon closer inspection he found that it was, in fact, smaller leaves that had yet to grow out of the trunk. They were just so closely packed and darkly colored that they looked like wood. Kein scanned down the trunk of the tree until his eyes landed on the fruit that had fallen off its stems. The fruits themselves look a lot like pears, only more orange colored and soft, as well as having a lemon-like outer skin. Most of the fruits strewn upon the earth were bruised and had holes rotted into them. To say the least, they were unappetizing. Regardless, his stomach growled again. So, as a response, he shot his eyes up to the conveniently ripe-looking fruit at the top.

"Alright, alright," he began out loud, patting his gut in an awkward effort to calm its eagerness "I understand that you call the shots here. I'll get going."

The palm itself was at least five meters tall. There was no immediately apparent way that he would be able to reach the pear-like fruits by himself. In a sudden spur of ideas, Kein began to search around for a stick to use as an extended arm. Unfortunately, all of the sticks he tried were either too short or too heavy to hold up. He didn't really want to start throwing rocks at the fruit because, well: heavy rocks, sharp edges, and soft fruit? Not a very good mix. With that already failed idea out of the way he moved to the next. Now looking between the trees surrounding the palm, he balked in surprise as there were no other foliage within at least six meters of the tree. As if it were giving off its own aura.

His last idea was probably the one he should have tried first. Which was to just suck it up and climb the thing. So, to prepare for his ascension, he tossed his hat and satchel off to the side and cracked his knuckles. But much to his surprise, as he grasped the trunk of the palm the fragile young leaves that grew from it literally dissolved as he applied pressure. Kein backed away from the tree with his hands in the air, dumbfounded at the fact that this tree- this not sentient palm tree- was practically preventing him from getting access to its brightly colored fruit and satisfying his hunger pangs.

Despite that fact, Kein's stomach reminded him of the importance of the pears. Making him even more annoyed than before. He examined the uncooperative palm for a few seconds, attempting to learn more about the tree that annoyed him so. The only new thing that he was able to note was a bend in the tree that started half way up and pointed towards the river. Gazing up and down the trunk eventually brought his attention back to the orange fruit. Kein quickly shook his head, returning his eyes back to its base. With a new idea formed in his mind, he strode back over to the palm. But rather than attempting to mount it, he simply passed by and walked to the edge of the circle the tree created. Facing away from where the bend in the tree pointed. He then spun on his heels and faced the tree with an uncertain smirk.

 _Well, I've always wanted to try this,_ he thought. Without warning, Kein charged straight for the palm's base. From the outside perspective, one would think that he was going to simply smash into the palm. Knocking not only the pears loose, but also his marbles. However, inside the mind of the madman another thought brewed. Kein had remembered watching some of the 'cool' students at his high school do this on the walls of the gym room, and with some pretty satisfying results. He had never really tried to run _up_ something, but he got the concept of it. He just hoped that his ideas would still apply to the palm tree.

Less than a meter from the palm's base Kein pushed up off the ground, launching himself at the lower mid-point of its trunk. As his first foot hit its leafy bark, his momentum decreased, but as quick as it left, he reversed what little he had into horizontal motion. Allowing him to effectively stumble up the side of the trunk. To his shock, he managed to get half way up the palm tree with relative ease. Sadly, he was running out of steam and had to fully stop his charge. With the last of his momentum, Kein pushed off the trunk. Sending him a good two meters out from where he jumped. With a quick fall, he landed next to the palm's base.

The small portion of adrenaline he gained from the jump was enough to put a skip in his step. Kein leapt up from his crouching position and faced the tree again. He found it was still swaying from his first attempt to climb its surface. Each time it swayed the bend in the trunk would fall down so it was at least parallel with the ground. With the conclusion that this tree was made of rubber, a smile crossed his face and Kein backed up again. Now confident in his ability to achieve his goal, he continued to watch the palm for a few more seconds. At this point the trunk had lost some of its sway and was now at more of a thirty-five degree angle with the ground. Then, at a seemingly random moment, Kein charged the tree again.

With his left foot pushing off the ground and his right on the tree's trunk, Kein once again ran up the side of the palm. This time when he reached the midpoint of the trunk it was at its lowest point during a sway. Allowing Kein to continue up the tree with minimal effort, easily passing his last highest point on its trunk. He was now walking on this bend, or at least walking with both his hands and feet, causing the tree to groan under his weight. The further Kein crouched up the tree the further the bend fell. It was at least at a thirty degree decline from its parallel start and he still had a good two meters until the fruit.

"Come to papa," he joked to the most plump orange pear as he crouch-walked the last meter. Abruptly, Kein's left foot lost traction and slipped off the tree trunk, causing him to shift unevenly. Without any of his consent, his body attempted to compensate for the lack of balance by doing the only thing it could do: forcing his right leg out. Right then and there, Kein quite literally ball busted himself on the trunk of the rubbery palm tree. However, it didn't stop there. Due to the negative angle the tree was at and the smoothness of the wood, he slowly began to slide forward. Dragging his crotch along the bark.

He could do nothing, so with a small whimper, Kein let it happen. As gravity dragged him the last meter, he closed his eyes in an attempt to block out the sandpaper-like feeling that was now being forced onto his inner thighs. This was the rash that should have _never existed_. Sadly, he couldn't help but focus on the sensation. Despite how _interesting_ the cheesegrater-like effect the bark was administering between his legs felt, he was able to use this horrible opportunity to actually accomplish something by sticking his hands out.

Taking the orange fruit in his weak grip, Kein curled up around it and stopped. However, the momentum from his slide was still going. Causing him to be forcefully rolled off the tree and fall the last two meters that separated the top of the trunk from the ground, pulling the pear from its stem as he fell. With the palm tree now free of Kein's weight, its elastic trunk snapped back into position. Thus knocking not only one of its leaves free, but also launching the remainder of the fruit deep into the forest and out of sight. Leaving Kein to pick his sorry ass up from the ground.

* * *

Ellix awoke to the sound of crunching gravel. Late the previous night he had reached his desired destination of the Silver River, just around a bend from a waterfall. The muffled roar of the rushing water lulled him to sleep that night and it was easy to say that it was the most and best rest he had gotten in a whole month. No Cera jumping him while he slept, no parents who would literally drag him out of the cave so he could participate in a less than appealing outside activities, and _no Ria_. His sudden dislike for a specific dragoness was more than earned and he shuddered as the one day old event flashed through his mind, still freshly- and possibly permanently- burned into his memory.

Suddenly, a heavy crunch snapped him out of his thoughts. With one quick motion, Ellix wiped the crust from his eyes and turned to face the sound. What he saw was more than shocking. Standing at the base of what his father had told him was a Ephean tree, on the other side of the river, was an ape. Or a Cheetah… though, he had never really seen a Cheetah before, but comparing description to appearance was easy enough. The reason being that his father never allowed even the slightest indication that they lived be shown, other than the whole family visiting nonsense… and the on the go lessons… and the _extremely_ loud bathing sessions… Yeah, he was slacking. Though it was the _idea_ of the felines selling them out that at least instilled some level of paranoia in his family hearts; preventing them from properly socializing with the tribes. So he thought it best to just call it an ape.

Ellix stared at the creature for a few seconds, then realization struck him. An ape? A thin one? That was rare. Pushing that aside. An ape! What the hell!? This is the first one he'd seen in almost _three years_! Where did this come from!? Looking back four weeks, he recalled the first thing that had happened the day Selic's family had arrived. Cera and her _bullshit_. His scowl deepened and Ellix clenched his paws as he connected the two. His mind bursting into thoughts of strangling a certain ice dragoness for being so _careless_! His thoughts soon drew him to the memories of the hostile creatures and the destruction they brought. During his whole life apes were a problem. A problem which varied in intensity from fighting patrols to completely abandoning his home. Ellix immediately felt anger well up inside of him as he remembered the months his family spent in hell on earth just to find that their home had been completely destroyed. However, before Ellix could go over and teach this thin ape what it meant to be tortured, it did something rather unexpected.

Ellix watched the ape charge straight at the swaying tree. Before he could even comprehend what it was doing, the not-so-ape-like ape planted its left foot and started to sprint up the Ephean tree. Ellix blinked in surprise. He had seen some apes do some pretty bizarre things, such as attempting to use a blunt weapon as a toothpick, and even though this didn't top the charts, it was up there.

 _Why… did it not just jump?_ Ellix wondered to himself. From all the times he had seen apes in action, he had gathered enough information to conclude that apes had some pretty ancestor-like thighs and arms. It was these ancestral thighs and arms that allowed them to easily jump from tree to tree. Being able to travel using trees was the one major advantage that apes had when fighting in ground combat, allowing them to escape with ease. For reasons unbeknownst to Ellix, this ape not only didn't use its super jumping capabilities, but also gave no indication that it had them.

His eyes continued to follow the creature as it rather slowly made its way further up the tree's trunk. Ellix recoiled, this thing _sucked_ at climbing, and that was an understatement. Apes _did not_ suck at climbing, whereas this ape clearly didn't climb on a daily basis. As the thin ape continued up the tree the trunk began to sag. This, to Ellix, was yet another indication that this was not a normal ape. Apes weren't all that heavy, in fact, Ellix most likely weighed more than the average ape. Yet this one quite literally made the tree groan under its weight.

As the ape neared the Ephean fruit the tree held so preciously, it slipped. Ellix watched completely awestruck as the ape slid up the tree, ran face first into the fruit, and hit the ground with a dull _thud_. As the creature landed the stem that connected the Ephean pear to the tree broke, causing the trunk to in turn snap back. Sending the rest of the fruits off into the woods. Though, Ellix guessed the ape could care less due to the fact that it was on the ground rolling around like a fish out of water. Ellix's left eye _would not_ stop twitching. This was, by far, the most _pathetic_ excuse for an ape that he had ever seen.

Was this some kind of joke? Were the apes finally inbred enough to produce _this_?! It was like someone had gone and mixed an ape with a Cheetah! Thinking that if one combines the speed of the feline with the somewhat dexterous apes, they would get some kind of super soldier?! Well, apparently not because this sure as fuck proves them wrong! Why the hell was it even on the ground?! It slid about what? Three feet! That's like a bee sting for crying out loud! Yet, pure agony. That's what Ellix could see. Pure, unbridled, agony.

Ellix gawked at the thing for the next five minutes. Still in complete shock at the ridiculous emphasis it was putting on the fall it had taken. It was just too much to look away from, just too absurd, just too _funny_. Scratch that, it was hilarious! Now that he had gotten over his shock, Ellix found it to be rather entertaining to watch his worst enemy flail about. However, his fun stopped when the ape abruptly went still. Ellix waited for movement for at least a full minute before coming to a rather sudden and direct conclusion.

 _And, it's dead,_ Ellix's own monotone voice rang throughout his mind, _wow, just… wow. That is sad, that's so unbelievably sad._ It wasn't sad that the ape had died, it's what it had died from. He didn't even want to think about it. Otherwise he might just start laughing out loud. Ellix brought one paw up to his temples and began to rub, closing one eye and keeping the other on the still silent body of the creature across the river. After another minute of nothing, Ellix sighed and got ready to stand up. Suddenly, much to the shock and surprise of the white dragon, the ape lurched up and began brushing itself off, acting as if nothing had transpired mere minutes before. Silently cursing himself, Ellix sat back down. Again rubbing his temple, though this time he was attempting to remove the pain from the smack he had given himself in shock of the ape awakening.

 _Never mind!_ Ellix rolled his eyes, adding sarcasm to his own thoughts. However, despite his dislike for the creature, he could not stop himself from watching its every action. It was pretty boring, all it did was finish dusting itself off and pick the Ephean fruit up off the ground. Next, the ape walked down the beach with the pear safely secured in its forearms. It stopped above what appeared to be a brown leather pouch, like the ones Selic and his father used when hunting, only smaller. Then, it simply sat down near the bag, reached into it, and pulled out a small hooked dagger. With which it proceed to cut up the pear with.

 _Wait… is it going to eat it?!_ Ellix's head shot back in shock, everyone and _everything_ knew that these fruits were poisonous, even the apes- stupid as they were- knew that the fruits that grew from this tree would kill them. Heck, it wasn't even an indigenous plant! Ellix had been told about how the tree were a product of some experiment a group of moles had conducted to increase the amount of food in the capital by taking an edible fruit tree and breeding it with one of the fastest growing plants on the continent. To their dismay, the things ended up being poisonous, able to grow _anywhere,_ and pretty much sucked the life out of every other fauna. That's why no foliage would grow around them. However, this dumbass of an ape had taken the largest, most brightly colored one it could find, and was eating it.

Ellix had lost all sense of anger towards the ape that now sat on the beach, eating the fruit it had painstakingly acquired. He was far too interested, and dumbfounded, to make any move towards this foreign creature. It didn't matter if he didn't do anything anyways, as it would just die from the fruit itself.

Ellix shook his head. _When it dies, it dies, and then there'll be one less problem in the world._ It just didn't make any sense, how could something that looked so much like an ape, show no qualities that make an ape... an ape? He had heard from his father that there were some apes that were more thin than the others and were skilled in things that most of the species were not- such as smithing and healing- but this just made that idea look stupid. The only thing that was keeping this creature an ape was the fact that it was covered in fur and was a bipedal. Even then, those weren't very good qualities to base something off of. Most apes were pretty dumb, so he could base something off its intellectual prowess, but he couldn't judge the ape's intelligence from here. If it proved better than an average, which he doubted. Considering all that had happened in _just_ the last ten minutes, there's no telling what would happen.

Ellix watched the non-ape ape consume more than half the fruit, and it appeared it planned on finishing its meal. During the whole time he had been watching the ape, not one other had shown itself, which was strange. It was unusual for an ape to be alone, for it was standard for them to hunt in packs. However, outcasts were also not unheard of, and with the way this one was acting, that wouldn't be hard to believe. Despite these strange developments, Ellix continued to watch from his perch. Suddenly, the wind changed and brought the scent of the creature to his nostrils. A quick but unnerving thought took precedence over the smell.

 _Could it smell me the whole time?!_ Ellix panicked, and abruptly stood up, causing his right back paw to step on a twig, snapping it. Ellix dropped to the ground the moment the ape-like creature looked up to his current position. It was the first time since he had spotted the thing that it had even remotely looked in his direction. Ellix didn't move, but luckily for him, the shrubs provided him a small hole in which he could continue to monitor his interest. To his surprise, the ape had made little movements other than just looking up to where he was. As the ape turned away Ellix righted himself and got back into a more comfortable position, shock still covering his muzzle. _How freaking stupid! Can this ape be?!_ The ape went back to its meal, and Ellix found it a good time to review his finding.

 _First, the thing can't climb. Made that pretty evident with its failed excuse of getting that pear,_ Ellix scoffed at the thought then continued. _Second, this one is way overweight, way too tall, and way too thin… if that makes sense._ He debated on how something could be heavy and thin at the same time. But with all the surprises he was finding out within the last couple days, he didn't put it past anything. _Third, the thing has no sense of smell, or if it does, it's terrible. Then fourth, it obviously doesn't have to fight that often. Considering it pretty much ignored my screw-up, it also has a lack of danger sense._

As Ellix continued his thoughts he noted the ape had finished its meal and was now cleaning up. He watched it take the pear skin and throw it into the forest. Then it took out what looked like a white piece of cloth from somewhere in its fur and wipe its hands, then it took the same cloth and cleaned off its dagger. Ellix's shocked wonderment continued to rise as he watched the ape walk down to the water, dip the rag into the river, rub its hands against the cloth, and then squeeze it. Ringing out all the soaked-up water. Next thing he knew, the ape was back at its bag and rummaging around in it.

Ellix slowly recomposed himself. An ape... cleaning? That right there was just… apes never cleaned anything! Not their fur, not their weapons, hell they didn't even pick up the bodies of their fallen comrades after a battle! Yet this one cleaned up as if it were second nature!

 _What the hell is with this thing!_ Ellix internally screamed in disbelief. However, no amount of recomposure would have prepared him for what the so-called ape did next.

The ape abruptly stood up, putting its hands behind its back and leaning into them. Ellix flinched as a few unpleasant cracks could be heard emanating from the creature's back as it did this. Next, the ape took its left arm and stretched it across its body while using the other arm to hold it there. It repeated this motion with the other arm then gave both a good wave around. Then with one quick motion, the ape bent down and touched its feet before springing back up with a jump. Ellix was already shocked, but the ape wasn't finished. Because, without warning, the ape bent both arms outward behind it's back. Then by some act of magic, removed the fur that covered its back and chest. Then, as if nothing major had happened, the ape proceeded to tie said fur around its waist.

 _What have I just witnessed?_ Was the only thought that ran through Ellix's mind. His left eye twitched uncontrollably and an odd nausea found its way to his stomach. Ellix bit his lower lip in an attempt to hold back the bile that was accumulating in his throat as he replayed one of the most vile things he had ever witnessed. _Please. No. It didn't. It didn't just rip its skin off._ But the thought was too much and he released a wave of stomach acid into the grass. After recovering from the second time he had hurled that day, Ellix sank to his stomach. Luckily, he had fallen in front of the hole that allowed him to view the river. Sadly, it only showed him the abso-fucking-lutely not an ape facing his direction.

* * *

Kein had to admit, the pear... orange... fruit thing was pretty damn tasty. In fact, he'd went as far to say that it was better than any fruit he had had the pleasure to eat! However, the newfound delicacy didn't last all that long and soon he found himself with an empty skin. Feeling rather content with the fruit's edibility, and considering that fact the he hadn't seen it again, Kein felt the need to find another of the same type. Sadly, he recalled what had happened to the other fruit in the bunch and let out a sigh.

Looking down at the skin of the pear, then to his hands and Tom's knife, Kein's brow wrinkled in disgust. The darn thing had been messy, and had left his fingers uncomfortably sticky. With slight irritation, Kein picked up the pear skin and hurled it into the woods. This only succeeded in getting more juices on his hands. Without a second thought he produced one half of his freshly cleaned, still damp handkerchief and began to wipe his hands and knife. Once all the liquid from the orange pear had been removed, Kein stood up and walked over to the waterfront. Once there, he bent down and proceeded to clean off the hand wipe.

Upon crouching down, Kein felt a large cramp form on the lower portions of his back. Then, it dawned upon him that he had yet to relieve his muscles of their less than comfortable position they had been in the night before, despite his long walk early this morning. So, with a bit more haste than he previously had, Kein finished cleaning and drying his handkerchief. Then just for good measure, he stuffed it and the knife back down into their pockets of origin. Once the rag was away, Kein walked back over to his bag, checking to make sure that everything was still inside. It was at this point the cramp decided to make itself apparent again; without waiting a second longer, Kein relieved himself of it.

"Ah, yeah, that feels good," Kein moaned with pleasure as his back cracked and his spine relocated itself. He then proceeded to stretch out the rest of his body, starting from the arms and ending with a small jump. Suddenly, a cold shiver ran down Kein's spine. Reminding him that it was past noon and the sun was beating down on his body, quickly heating it up within his multiple layers of clothes. With one fluid motion, Kein removed his overcoat and wrapped it around his waist, securing it with a square knot. Suddenly, the sound of something losing its lunch was heard. With an eyebrow raised, Kein turned to face the sound, and as he stared, one thought came to mind.

 _That better be the fucking deer that ate my stuff._ He didn't dwell on the thought long, due to the sounds of forest reminding him the reason he even woke up: exploration! Not soon after the thought, Kein found himself picking up his satchel and walking off in the direction the pear fruit had been thrown from the its host tree.

Kein knew that sometime the night before he had entered a different type of forest. However, what he didn't expect was _how_ different the two forests were. The area he had started in could be easily described as an oak forest, where all the trees were either what he presumed oaks or some form thereof, and the underbrush consisted of small bushes and shrubs. But the woodland he was in now had pretty much taken a one-eighty. These trees had completely thrown out the idea of being oaks and now favored a more willow-like type of tree- minus the long, noodle-like leaves- and to make the two forests even more unalike, the underbrush changed as well. It now consisted of tall grasses and small flowers. Also, these grasses for some reason attracted groups of fireflies. Which would relentlessly hover around them despite it being broad daylight. But although there were so many changes in scenery, that wasn't what bothered him. No, the thing that stumped him was the fact that the change happened so quickly. Kein continued to mull over his thoughts as he walked over stumps and around rocks. Time flew by in the hours and soon he found himself at the top of yet another cliff.

"See!" He yelled to nothing, "this is exactly what I'm talking about!" The cliff was easily thirty meters tall and, from what Kein could tell, it stretched on for kilometers in both directions. As he looked over the side, Kein could see that the cliff had a lip that overlapped the forest below. However, the cliff itself was unimportant, instead, Kein had decided to yell at the _oak_ forest below. It was this sudden change in biomes that got him so riled up. It just made no sense. How could one type of tree only be seen in one side of a forest despite the fact that the climates are same? To make it worse, there was no integration at the border of the two types of trees. It was like someone had taken a paintbrush and painted a huge line that neither set of foliage could cross, making it look like the two forests just stopped once they reached each other.

Kein just continued to stare out over the cliff with the willow-like forest behind him and the oak one in front. There was no doubt, the place was freaking gorgeous, but that still didn't ease his annoyed nerves. It was apparent to him that he had somehow looped back on the progress he had made the day before. Since he had no destination in mind, Kein decided that he might as well continue. After a short break of course. With a sullen scowl covering his face, Kein walked over to a nearby stone that jutted out from the cliff face. Feeling satisfied with the stone as a resting spot he sat down, dropping his satchel next to him.

Kein took his hat off and ran his fingers through his hair; letting off a sigh of exasperation. Before he could complain further about the sudden and unexplained change in scenery, a small, yellow, stick-like piece of wood rolled its way into his view. He quickly snatched up the stick and immediately identified it as one of his pencils from his satchel. Looking over to his bag, he found the flap loose and its contents half fallen out. Without a thought Kein began to pick up the fallen out items and stuff them back into the pouch. Most of the items were easily put back into the bag, which was still slightly wet from an incident which involved an accidental bath. As Kein's hands flew over his sketch binder he froze. He intently eyed the book for a few seconds before finally picking it up. Flipping to the back and popping open its metal rings; he proceeded to grab up one page and close the rings. Turning to the tag that was labeled 'Scenery,' Kein reopened the rings and placed the open binder to the side; staring at the blank page in his hands. Looking up and over the valley below, Kein plucked up the pencil and placed it upon the page. Luckily, the paper had dried enough for him to take up his hobby.

Quick as a whip, Kein began to make a sketch of the valley below. His hand flew over the paper; making quick marks across its surface. Occasionally he would look back up at the valley, only to dip his head down to add a shadow or line that he had missed. All in all, he was feeling quite content. This was his hobby, and ever since he had set foot in the more than strange forest it had been screaming out to him. Now that his unconscious urge was being sated, a wave of relief washed over him for the first time in days. It had been at least five minutes since he had started sketching and the valley was now easily recognizable on the paper. However, he was unable to continue due to a sharp squeak that was heard from behind him; snapping Kein out of his hypnotized state.

Kein shot his head around. To him, the squeak was the sound of a small animal, like a rabbit or squirrel, but this forest was already full of surprises and he didn't doubt anything. So in response, he put his paper down and calmly stood up. For what seemed like an eternity, he stared at the location the sound had emanated from. Half expecting something to jump out at him. Except the longer Kein stared, the longer the bushes remained still. Just as he was about to sit down, the ferns jostled and fast as lightning a white hare bounded from it, running at full speed. After recomposing from the sudden appearance of the hare, Kein shook his head and sat back down.

 _What's with the wildlife here,_ he thought as he again picked up his notebook and pencil, _what that's like three times now? Stick, vomit, rabbit?_ Kein shook his head again and turned back down to his drawing. It was almost finished, but still needed a few touch ups. Once again, he began to sketch, looking up from time to time to make sure he got every last detail the trees had to offer. If he was going to remember the time he had spent an undefined amount of time in an unknown forest, he might as well have a good picture.

As Kein finished the last marks of the sketch, he held it up to the forest and couldn't help but give off a hearty smile. He had really outdone himself with this one. The picture captured the likeness of the valley almost perfectly. The many small streams that could be seen from high up were perfectly placed on the page, along with the smaller cliffs and meadows that dotted the valley's plains. But don't forget those oak trees, all those mysterious oak trees. As he glanced between the two forests a rather strange thought came to mind, but it quickly turned his face into a full blown smile.

"I could stay here for a while," he said aloud. Before he could continue his conversation with the wind, the sound of a startled bird followed by a cold chill that ran down his spine caused Kein to jump; sending a wave of uneasiness through his soul. For the second time within the last ten minutes, Kein whipped his head around only to see the wall of greenery that was the forest. Even though his eyes fell upon nothing abnormal, he couldn't shake the feeling of being watched, or whatever he had felt the second before. Slowly, Kein turned his attention back to the valley in front of him. He could definitely stay here. It was a much nicer place than he had previously thought and he could use a vacation, regardless if it was a survival vacation, not that it made any difference. His eyes continued to scan the beautiful valley until the came across something he hadn't noticed before.

 _Is that… smoke?_ He thought, squinting his eyelids to get a better look at the mysterious fumes. There was no doubt, it was smoke. With the thought confirmed, Kein's eyes lit up with hope and he sprung to his feet. It was a general rule of thumb that where there was smoke, there was fire. Where there was fire, there was people... or something in mother nature had screwed up. Nonetheless, it was his chance get some answers. So with a new goal in mind, Kein snatched up his satchel and started to walk across the cliffside, heading towards the civilized idea of fire.

* * *

Ellix had been watching, more like stalking, the- for lack of a better term- magic ape for what had seemed like days. In truth, he knew the creature couldn't be an ape. It had time and time again proven to him the lack of ape like qualities it had, and had added to that list of things ten fold within just the last hour. But for the sake of not having a way to identify it, he still called it an ape. The one missing quality that stood out the most was the way it traveled. Ellix thought it was going to be a pain in the ass to keep up with the thing and not be seen. Yet within the first five minutes of traveling, that idea was completely thrown out. The ape, instead was _not_ leaping from tree to tree as Ellix had expected, and actually just walked on its feet.

The only time Ellix had ever seen an ape on its feet was in combat. Even then it was more of a shuffle and small leaps. The ape that he had now been following for a solid hour seemed to walk like this all the time, like this was its only method of travel it had. However, this was not the strangest thing that the ape did while they had been moving. It was when the ape encountered an obstacle, like a fallen tree or a rock, when stuff got weird. Ellix found it rather unnerving watching the thing bend its body in ways a normal ape would most likely die from, and the fact that it did these movements with relative ease made it worse.

Another odd thing was not once out of the hundreds of times the wind changed direction did the ape ever catch onto his scent. At first, this made no sense, regardless of how un-ape-like this one was, it had to have some sense of smell. It was just something all creatures were born with. His father had told him about the other races that inhabited the realms in which they lived in. These included the Moles, Cheetahs, Atwalas, and Manweersmall- which was just another type of Mole- and from what he had heard about them, they to had a pretty good sense of smell. However, this ape had shown no indication of even being able to smell. To back the thought up even further, whenever Ellix had gotten a chance to look at its face, he was shocked to find that it didn't even look like it had a snout.

All in all, this thing was freaking unnatural. This only served to spark Ellix's interest even more, and he continued to follow the creature. For the next hour, the ape and Ellix made a slow and unrelenting journey through the forest. For the whole of the trip, he was either watching the ape from behind or using his rest restored shadow ability to get a closer, yet more blurry, look at the creature and a quick glance at what lay ahead without drawing attention. Whenever Ellix would get close to the ape, he would often find the thing talking to itself as if there was another next to it. The strangest part was that he could _clearly_ understand what the ape was saying through the distorting effects of the shadow realm. It worried him that this ape not only spoke in his tongue, but it also did it fluently. This meant that it was either its natural language or was a higher ranking ape, who were forced to learn the common tongue, which was the one used by all species but the apes.

All these thoughts and ideas had happened well over thirty minutes ago and it was about that time in which Ellix had stopped questioning something he couldn't answer and just watch. The best part is, that after he had stopped burdening himself with all these questions, he had started to actually find the ape entertaining again; watching it struggle with obstacles that he or any other creature wouldn't have a problem with, like climbing up a cliff. At one point in time, the ape had reached a small, fifteen foot wide stream that blocked its path. The ape had encountered many streams before this one and had usually gone for the unorthodox method of jumping from stone to stone to get across. However, on this attempt, the ape had accidentally slipped on one of the rocks and fallen into the one-foot deep water. At this, Ellix had to open a portal to the shadow realms just so he could shout 'failure' without being heard, and when he pulled his head out, he heard the ape spewing revolting words that matched the likes of Selic.

However, this screw up didn't deter the ape and it continued its travels unaffected. Eventually, Ellix and the ape came up upon the top of a cliff that overlooked the valley below. He immediately was able to identify the valley as the place his family would hunt for food, it was this same valley that also housed the local Cheetah tribe; the same one his family never associated themselves with. However, he was snapped out of his thoughts of home when the ape walked up to the cliff face, not more than twenty feet away from him and yelled at the top if its lungs.

"See! This is exactly what I'm talking about!" Ellix mulled over the words in his head as he sat in a tree overlooking the ape and the valley. This was the first time he had really heard the ape yell up close and from the sound of its voice, thus he was able to guess that it was a male. It was apparent the ape had been thinking about something without mindlessly spewing it to nothing. Thought it was these open thoughts that allowed Ellix to pick up on many things about the ape he didn't understand, namely the things about his brothers, something called a mortgage, and a job, all of which sounded more than important. However, this statement seemed to be directed at the valley below. This confused Ellix, there was nothing wrong with the valley, if there was, he and his family would have been the first ones to know.

However, before he could continue this thought, the ape let off a low sigh and walked to the edge of the cliff; upon which it sat itself down, dropping his bag next to it. Suddenly, a low grumbling sound was heard. Ellix, out of instinct, stood up in the tree he was perched in. Quickly, he scanned the forest floor beneath, attempting to find whatever had made the sound. Within a couple seconds, the sound was heard again. Only this time, he actually felt something to go along with it. With a slight bit of unnecessary embarrassment, Ellix looked down to his belly. In response, his stomach growled again.

It now occurred to Ellix that he had yet to eat anything since around seven the night before, and from what he could tell, it was around three in the afternoon. Meaning he had almost gone a whole day without eating. Upon this thought, his stomach growled louder than before. Fearing that the ape below him would hear the abnormally loud sounds, he sunk the lower half of his body into the shadows. Luckily, the ape had heard nothing- again- as it was preoccupied with something in its hands. Now on the search for food, Ellix gave the air a quick sniff, taking in all the scents that surrounded him. For about thirty seconds he scanned the air, sorting through all the different smells. Soon, he had distinguished the scent of rabbit. With a devilish smirk, he disappeared into the shadow realm.

Creeping along the forest floor, the floating nose of Ellix could be seen shifting left and right as it inhaled the trail of a rabbit. He had learned to use his ability to extreme effectiveness while hunting, allowing him to sneak up on prey with it being none the wiser. However, his useful ability did come with a price, as he would often feel overly spent on energy after maybe a few minutes of straight use. The reason he was using his ability at the moment was that: one, he didn't want the mysterious ape to accidentally find him, for that had unseen consequences, and two, he was already pretty darn close to the rabbits to begin with.

Within a few seconds, his snout entered a small clearing in the trees. Sensing that the rabbit he was hunting was near by, Ellix brought the rest of his face out of the shadow realm in order to get a solid view of his target. A shuffling in the center of the clearing caught his attention. Laying in the middle of the ring of trees was not just one, but three rabbits. Each mulling around doing their own thing. From the looks of it, there was what he presumed to be a mother rabbit- which was the largest and was laying down in the grass- and two slightly older than infants. All three had yet to notice Ellix as he was still half submerged in the darkness. However, one of the younger rabbits was getting dangerously close to his current position.

With the stealth of a fox and a grin that could rival the most vicious, Ellix fully encased himself in shadows. Quickly, using the shade provided by the trees, he moved past the infant rabbit without it so much as flicking an ear. His target was the mother, and if he could, the smaller one nibbling the grass next to it. He noticed a rise in the dirt not more than a couple feet away from where the two were, therefore their den was not far. To add to the list of obstacles, the shadows ended about six feet away from the rabbits. Meaning that they would be able to see him once he left the shade.

Ellix scowled at his misfortunes, but nonetheless continued with his plan. Positioning himself as close to the mother rabbit as he could, he got into a crouched stance. It had been maybe three minutes since he had activated his shadow power and he could clearly feel the fatigue that was being forced onto him, along with his empty stomach. Before his stomach could complain, Ellix shot out of the shadows. Each rabbit looked up in terror, but sadly, only one made it out. He clamped his jaws around the mother rabbit, effectively breaking its spine with a sickening _crunch_. The young rabbit that had been near had seen the white dragon murder its mother, but reacted slowly, paying for the mistake with its life. With zero remorse, Ellix brought his tail blade down on the younger rabbit's neck, causing the small amount of blood it had in its body to come gushing out uncontrollably. The third rabbit had witnessed the death of its mother and sibling. Except, unlike the other two, it was able to comprehend the danger and ran as fast as its young legs could carry it.

Ellix could taste the metallic tang of blood in his maw, snapping his focus back from the rabbit that had run off. Carefully, he set the larger rabbit down next to its young, and began to skin the mother with his claws. After about a minute the larger rabbit was free of its indigestible fur and he moved to the next kill, repeating the process. Once both rabbits were free of their 'binds,' Ellix began his meal. Taking the child rabbit and flicking it into his maw, swallowing it whole. He continued his impromptu meal with relative peace, taking great joy in the fact that his previously empty stomach was now full. Taking this free time to think about his ape friend that sat no more than a hundred feet away from him. After another five minutes, He had finished the remains of the two rabbits, but was so deep in thought that he didn't realize it until he tried to go for more. He had to admit, the rabbits were good, but he was still hungry. Sadly, he had an interest to get back to, so gathering more sustenance would have to wait. Without another thought, Ellix stood up, stretched, and walked back to the ape.

He found his traveling companion with relative ease, since it had yet to leave the cliffside. Ellix continued to observe the ape from a distance, he found that the thing still had the same object in its hand from when he had left. Curious, Ellix crept closer to the sitting mammal. Wondering what could be so interesting that it could be occupied by it for easily ten minutes. Ducking behind a rock that was to the left of his quarry, he held his breath and listened. For a few seconds, all he heard was the sound of the surrounding forest, but eventually, scratching could be heard from the ape's direction. Peeking his muzzle over the rock, he found the ape leaning over what appeared to be a thin piece of bark. As he continued to stare, Ellix found that the bark matched the description of parchment; something his mother had told him about. However, it was his first time seeing such a thing, considering his family's isolation.

Ellix's eyes then moved to the object that was in the ape's hands. He could only describe the item as a yellow stick with one pointed end that was black like charcoal, and one round end which matched the color of salmon meat. The ape itself was dragging the sharper end of the stick across the piece of parchment, almost like what one would do with a tail blade and scratch marks. When his mother had taught him about the uses of parchment and writing, and how the dragons used to keep records of their history before the war, Ellix had been more than reluctant to listen. The idea of using deer blood and his tail blade to make marks on white pieces of bark he had spent hours gathering seemed like too complicated as well as wasted time and effort. Now that he was watching what was considered one of the most stupid and incapable creatures alive write, he couldn't help but feel impressed.

As the ape continued to make more and more marks on the parchment, Ellix found himself being unconsciously drawn to its white surface. Whatever he was doing, it had to be difficult. He noted the several times the ape brought its head up and gazed upon the valley below, clearly studying it. Ellix once again found nothing all that special about the hunting ground, but it was clear that whatever the ape was doing, it was taking some form of inspiration from it. He watched the ape for another few minutes. By this time, the ape had started to make less and less marks and began to look up at the valley even more. With his curiosity at its max, Ellix's subconscious was screaming at him to figure out what activity the creature was so intently doing. After another minute of silence, he gave in.

Getting up from his lying position, Ellix crept closer to the sitting ape, entering the shadow realm as he got closer. However, as he neared it, the ape abruptly thrust the parchment out in front of him. He could hear the ape chuckle as it held the parchment, clearly content with what it had done. Ignoring the ape's self enjoyment, Ellix continued forth, coming right up behind the creature; his maw stopping less than a foot away from the ape's turned back. Now that he was uncomfortably close to the possibly dangerous creature, Ellix glanced at the parchment in its hands. He then slapped himself as he gazed at the 'white' surface, being only able to see its dark silhouette. So in response, he allowed his eyes access to the outside world, clearing his vision.

What he saw astounded him. On the parchment, in what appeared to be grey lines, was a shockingly accurate representation of the valley below. Had it not been for his muzzle still being in the shadows, the ape would have jumped at the unnecessarily loud huff of shock that emanated from Ellix. He had heard during his teachings that one could do some pretty beautiful things with the tail blade and ink, but this was more than he expected. As he continued to balk at the picture, the ape began to talk to itself, but he was too engrossed to listen. Suddenly, a branch that had been covering both the ape and Ellix was moved by a bird, which was startled by the ape's sudden comment. With the branch no longer covering the ground below, light instantly flooded down on the ape and himself. His eyes went wide as he was suddenly revealed to the world with a _swoosh_. Quickly, he jumped to the left right as the ape's head swung around to face where he had been not a moment ago.

As his body touched the shade Ellix sunk back into the shadows before scampering away from the ape and hiding behind a large tree. Releasing his hold, Ellix appeared, panting heavily and trying to calm down his rapidly beating heart. Eyes still wide, he swallowed before peeking out from behind the tree to see if his interest had noticed him. To his absolute shock the ape had done nothing more than turn to face the forest behind him. With a thousand-pound weight lifted off his shoulders, Ellix collapsed to the ground. Thanking the ancestors for the dull senses of the creature.

However, his attention was brought back when he heard the sound of shuffling. Looking out from behind the tree again, Ellix found the ape was once again standing. Its gaze was focused on a thin black line that stretched from the ground to the sky in the middle of the valley. Without another word, the ape snatched up its bag and hurried off down the cliff. Still jittery from the close call he had had moments ago, Ellix let his head rest on his paws for a brief moment before letting off a sigh and standing up; following the strange ape as it ran off into the distance.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **There we have it, people. The lovely integration of two different perspectives. Struggle and sarcasm. Oh, and if any of you are wondering. There is a reason… for everything. No matter what seems out of place! No matter how horribly uncertain things may be! There is** _ **always**_ **a reason! Believe me! I HAVE A CORK BOARD!**

 **Ssethelis: It appears we live in a world where a cork board represents global power… shit.**

 **It's better than most ideas of power. Really, how do people control anything if they can't even handle their own mind? It be like waking up every day without a cork board! Eggs in your sheets!**

 **Ssethelis: Ssethelis: Ssethelis: Ssethelis: Yo. I just fucked your shit up, bros.**

 **Ssethception... The world has finally fallen apart… Welp! At least I'll be the most organized person in the apocalypse.**

 **Cork Board…**

 **Ssethelis: Kein, struggling with the real-life applications of draw distance.**

 **Or chunk errors… If anyone else was playing between 1.1 and 1.2.5… god I hated everything back then. The amount of dick ripping… just astronomical. But was it literal dick ripping… or figurative. I'd have to check for evidence.**

 ***Suddenly! Holes.***

 **Hacodeman: I… WILL NOT… BE… KICKED… AGAIN… I… SHALL… RISE… TO... THE… TO-...**

 **Fuck! Sseth, go to the arcade! QUICKLY! WE NEED THE SERVICES OF THEIR BEST WHACK-A-MOLE PLAYER!**

 **Hacodeman: NO… CAN'T… WE… JUST… TALK… ABOU-...**

 **TO MANY CAPS! SHIT!** _ **Click**_ **. Ah, there. NO! OUT DEMON!**

 **Ssethelis: I figured now is the best time to mention, Hacodeman is the best whack-a-mole player at the arcade… :/**

 **Fucking! FINE! I'm taking that title! You better run your bitch ass!**

 **Hacodeman:** **NO… ONE… SHALL… TAKE… MY... Wait since when was I the best at whack-a-mole?**

 **Ssethelis: Well I figured that as much whacking** _ **off**_ **you do.**

 **Fifth degree buuuuurns!**

 **Hacodeman: Oh ya…**

 **Now what I said doesn't even apply! It's supposed to be denial! You know what! Fucking done! Everyone back in the box! Get in there! Fucking gremlins. Shooting the notes with this shit. Mental images. B.S. in general! IN THE BOX!**

 **Hacodeman: But I don't wannnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! ;w;**

 **And if you look below this comment you'll see the amount of fucks I give! IN THE B** **OX!**


	5. First Stop: Illogical Land

**YES I KNOW! It's SHORTER! BLAME THEM! NOT ME! PLEASE! THANK YOU! Enjoy.**

 **Aetheo: I'm early this time. THAT MEANS I CAN SET TRAPS!**

 **Thank god I have the power of the gods. First god included.**

 **Aetheo: Which one are you thanking?**

 **Whichever ones give enough of a shit.**

 **Aetheo: *slurp***

 **WAIT WAIT WAIT! I remembered a thing! Surprise! Dammit, man! You have piqued my interest!**

 **Aetheo: Mine too...**

 **What the hell did you guys bet two hundred euros on? I'd take some guesses but… might get weird fast.**

…

 **Sseth?**

…

 **Hello?**

 **Ssethelis: No. I may be amoral, but at least I have morals.**

 **I LITERALLY LINED IT UP FOR YOU! WHAT THE HELL! Why can't I make any jokes...**

 **Aetheo: *slurp***

 **I'm going to start writing them down then. But whatever, this got long fast.**

 **Disclaimer. That word, once per chapter. I bet, that I'll be so sick of it by the time this is done that I'll make Kein mumble it in his sleep, (Aetheo: Screw the fourth wall, apparently. Or maybe it only works in one direction… Ooh the possibilities.) just so that I can have an outlet…. even though it just appears once. It'll probably go sometime like this:**

 **Mrmmrm… don't own shit… mmm… stop asking…** _ **short -**_ **NOPE!** **Not going to court…** **you can sue me at home...** **Eeeeehh! Sto** **oo** **oo** **op** **, Acti** **vision** **! Leave it alone!**

 **Just as pro tip though, best name for a cocktail:**

 **Popping Virginity**

* * *

 **Chapter 5:** **First Stop: Illogical Land**

"What do you mean he just _left_!? That makes no sense!"

Mach sighed for the fifteenth time that hour. He was becoming _quite_ annoyed from the constant repetition that Joule was forcing him through. How the heck was he supposed to know why Ellix left? It's not like he was the Chronicler reincarnated for ancestors' sake! Heck, even the wise, legendary dragon would be at a loss for words. The only thing that gave any indication of why Ellix had suddenly decided to flick his tail at _everyone_ was the slightly charred piece of brown bark with a rather insulting message written on it in scratch marks.

The worst part was the more Mach read the vulgar message, the more he actually found it true. With this understanding came a small amount of sympathy for the younger black and white dragon. If this message accurately portrayed what Ellix had been dealing with internally for the past two weeks, then it was surprising that he had the willpower to last this long. As Mach could easily guess that anyone else in his position would have gone insane within the first few days. Of course, Mach could share no direct empathy for Ellix considering that he, according to the message, had also succumbed to the 'raging hormones' along with everyone else. Mach only sighed as he skimmed the memo again, knowing that whatever was destined to unfold from this event would not leave Ellix in an enviable position.

"Read it again," Mach heard Joule spit from behind. He, like most of the other members of the two families, had located himself in the still destroyed central chamber. Up to this point, Joule had been the only one to actually try to go in depth with the problem and come up with a feasible reason for Ellix's 'odd' behavior. During the hour that he had spent pacing trenches in the already fissure-filled room, Mach had been given the 'pleasure' of being his personal interpreter. His one job: rereading the message every time Joule asked, since there was no other tasks he could do. Mach almost had to complain, though he didn't. He had originally been happy to help, but at this point, nothing else that could possibly be gained from drilling the derogatory letter into his memory.

Letting out another long, clearly exasperated sigh, he mindlessly repeated the message aloud. As he was reciting it, Joule stopped pacing and intently listened to Mach's speech, regardless of the deliverer's indifference. However, much to his annoyance, the sound of shattering ice caused Mach to halt mid-sentence and wait for the tinkling to stop.

Mach and Joule weren't the only ones toiling away to make heads or tails of the insane situation. Each dragon had taken up some kind of job... besides Ria and Cera, who were both at the cave entrance; Ria crying her eyes out and Cera attempting to comfort her in some way. At the moment, Sapphire was in the main lounge with Joule and Mach. She was using her element to freeze the plant life that had had the privilege to grow undisturbed in their living room. To finish, she would then smash the frozen plants with her tail blade and sweep the shards into the holes- which were now clear of plants- that were made by Ria the night before. Finally, Vinea- who was also assisting in the clean up- would close the small chasms as they were filled, allowing the ice to melt naturally and seep into the ground. So far, using this method, they had managed to clear out a good majority of the chamber in just over an hour. Unfortunately, the cracks that the two were using had begun to grow further and further away from where the plants were being frozen, as the fissures around those plants had already been filled.

Mach and Joule slowly turned their heads as she crossed the room, watching Sapphire flap her wings in order to push the ice splinters to the next hole. She bore a flat expression of extreme displeasure. Nearing the crevasse, the teal dragoness manually took control of all the shards of ice using her element and flung them into the hole with a tight growl. She then proceeded to whip around and head back to plant smashing, leaving Vinea to seal the hole. Joule, seeing his mate's distress, intercepted her before she could continue, wrapping his wings around her like a cape of flesh. Preventing the small drafts that entered the cave from touching her scaled hide. The small act of affection gaining him a short sigh and a head in the crook of his neck.

Just then, Selic came trudging out of the tunnel from Ellix's chamber. His muzzle contorted as if he had just dealt with a bad smell. He must have been furious, though no sign of such anger was shown. Regardless, the way he _walked_ was enough to set Mach on edge, his body tensing up in anticipation. Stopping in the middle of the entrance, Selic could clearly be seen biting his bottom lip, then without warning, his eyes went wide. He took in a sudden deep breath through his nostrils and yelled.

"He puked on the _fucking floor_!" All heads shot up at his sudden outburst and turned towards his direction. However, Selic completely ignored the goldfish like stares he was receiving from the dragons and continued his rage induced rant.

"Right by the bedside! The little fucking drips of his rotting mucus all over the leaves would make you think someone effing _forced_ him to vomit!" Then abruptly he stopped, put on a fake expression of confusion, and brought one paw to his jaw. "Oh, wait! That's frickin' right, someone did..." but his words failed to come forth, instead choosing to drop back down on all fours and grumble the rest of it in silence. At this point, everyone was looking at him in horror, and even Ria, despite her sullen attitude, was wide-eyed at her father's words.

Unfortunately, once she processed the insult, she turned back to face the forest and resumed her muted sobbing. Since she had been the first one to realize that Ellix was missing, she took it as her fault, knowing that he didn't react very well when she attempted to make him rethink his decision to leave. Upon realizing that at least one other dragon thought the same, her resolve crumbled even more.

Selic trudged further into the main chamber, entirely overlooking the glares that the rest of the families were giving him, and stopped directly above where Mach was hunched over. He continued mumbling profanities to himself as he looked around the chamber and across the assorted dragons, his eyes taking in every minute detail that could help him in a future argument. Once he got a good look of the room, Selic turned his attention down to Mach, but instead of looking directly at him, glanced over him and let his eyes settle on the piece of bark under the smaller dragon.

"And this is the only other thing he left," he began in a low, rumbling tone. "A blackened piece of fucking wood with shitty writing on it. It's hardly even legible, and yet it's supposed to be an effing explanation on why he left. Pathetic," an audible huff following the dialogue before he turned to Joule and glared daggers at him.

"Seriously, what the hell did you do to him?" he criticized, flat out insulting Joule in his ever so evident anger. "It was your damn job to teach his sorry hide, yet he still does shit like this?"

Everyone recoiled at the verbal assault. Selic judging Joule on his parenting seemed extremely ironic, but no one was focused enough to laugh. Instead, the cave became eerily silent, save for Ria's sobbing. At this point, Selic locked gazes with Joule, his piercing gaze practically daring Joule to retaliate; _waiting_ for the stunned electric dragon to retort. But after several seconds of quiet, Selic decided to break it with another degrading insult.

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," he said with a vindicated snort. "Even his father is too cowardly to defend his pride." Another wave of silence washed over the chamber. Suddenly, Sapphire began to growl at Selic. Upset that another dragon would dare scandalize her mate in their own home, and took a step forward. At this, Vinea decided to take her own step… backwards. Wanting no role in his argument and frankly not wanting to help in any way; she'd much rather stay there than get kicked out.

However, before anyone could speak, Selic let loose another snarky comment, "He wouldn't do this crap if he had been my child."

After this insinuating sentence, Joule finally snapped, his cheeks became flustered and he began to shake. He then proceeded to open his maw and shout.

"And what exactly would he have done if he was your child, Selic!?" Joule bellowed at the now alarmed ice dragon. He had long since released his mate and was now stalking towards Selic with threatening intent.

"I wonder what traits he would have picked up!" Selic recoiling further when a wing was jabbed in his face. "Maybe instead of running out, he would have swaggered off like his self-righteous father! Spouting profanities like they're the next best thing to his own damn ego!" Electricity began arcing between his white fangs and horns as Joule's anger continued to rise. The rest of the family members all watched in utter astonishment as the normally jubilant and calm dragon quite literally beat Selic into a corner with his words.

"Or maybe he would be like Ria! Who's too afraid to even speak her mind without _jumping_ someone!" he growled, flashing his other wing blade towards the crying dragoness, completely disregarding her for the moment. "And what about Mach? I can't even decide what's worse! Having a jackass for a son or having one whom you can't even strike up an informal conversation with! It's like talking to a servant!"

He then brought his face down to Selic and spoke more quietly, "Don't tell me how to do my job when you're the _exact_ definition of bad parenting, you _fucking_ hypocrite."

Another long, obstinate silence filled the room when Joule stopped yelling. Halfway through the retaliation, Ria had just left. Having been mentioned in the argument didn't help her morale, and Cera had let her go in favor of watching her father remind Selic of whose home he was in. Sapphire was grinning from ear to ear at her mate's initiative, while Vinea was balking amazedly at the sight. Cera, who had remained near the entrance of the cave, padded down into the chamber and placed herself on Mach's right without a sound. Mach took notice to her presence and decided to quietly voice his thoughts.

"This is why I will _never_ argue with your father," he whispered, gaining a short nod from his consort. He wasn't mad at what Joule had said about his manner of speech. In all honesty, it made him feel more important and well educated, though Joule did have a point. Everyone continued to watch Joule stare down Selic, who by this time was little more than a heap on the floor, his normally sarcastic and attention demanding posture completely destroyed. No one wanted to admit that Selic deserved the stern lecture that he was getting, even though it was obvious to everyone, but it's victim. With a sudden derogatory snort, Joule turned away and stated his discourteous finisher.

"I will never understand why ice dragons are so stuck up and bratty," he finished, expelling the first thought that came to mind. No sooner had he completed the sentence than he heard a deep growl come from his front. Joule immediately clamped his mouth shut and looked up with dismay, instantly recalling the statement he had just made about half the dragons in the room, and regretting it twice as fast. His gaze quickly fell on his mate, who had a mixed attitude of menace and disgust on her lips, then his eyes turned to Cera who was just flat out snarling at him.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Cera asked through her growling.

Joule swallowed hard and backpedaled into one of the tunnels, chuckling nervously for obvious reasons. Unfortunately for him, he was quickly followed by Sapphire and Cera, who by this time had turned their previous flabbergasted looks into icy glares of anger. However, before he could take even his second step back he ran into something solid and cold. Whipping his head around he was met with the deadly blue irises of the now recovered Selic. If Joule's eyes could get wider they would have popped out of his skull, his two sets of frills were both flat on his head and his tail was between his legs, Joule was now in the defensive, and losing badly.

"I feel so outnumbered…" was the only thing he was able to mutter before Cera attempted to pounce on him, adding a bit of frost to her tackle. Sapphire was the next to lunge, but Joule had already gotten up and around Selic. He then proceeded to run around the chamber, attempting to escape the three angry ice dragons while dodging various ice-based attacks and the remaining patches of nature. Mach could only watch as half of the dragons in the chamber converged on the now frantic Joule, his focus on the unfair 'battle' so intent that he didn't notice his mother walk up next to him.

"Never insult an element, Mach."

The small fire dragon only nodded senselessly, not having to be told the consequences- they were obvious enough. The mother and son pair watched Joule and his angry mob run around the room, launching and dodging spikes of ice and frost, jumping up and around piles of rubble and trees, occasionally interspersed with springs into the air and flight in the spacious room. This chase went on for the next several minutes and the mess of blue scales had only gotten marginally closer to catching their prey as it was being quite wily in its methods of escape. Mach would have happily continued staring at the chase until it ended if his mother had not spoken up, pulling his attention back to reality.

"So," she started, glancing down to her offspring, who looked up in return, "what does the message say?" Having been unable to listen while helping Sapphire with the frozen plants, she had become quite interested in what all the others were raging about.

"Shit! He's a limber one!"

"Are you sure you want to hear it?" Mach questioned with a slight smile, ignoring the background noise and hoping that his mother would change her mind at the thought of it being truly awful. "He doesn't even refer to Joule and Sapphire as 'Mom and Dad.'" Looking down at the insinuating message between his paws, Mach naturally began finding all the spots in which the names of Ellix's parents were found. Sadly, when he looked back up, he was only met by a small nod coming from Vinea. Letting off a small sigh, he gave in to his mother's demands and reluctantly began to read.

"Left! Corner him!"

"Dear members of the hormone house." After finishing the first sentence, Mach stopped and looked up to Vinea, silently asking for- yet still dreading- permission to continue reading. Vinea, who had just ducked to dodge a rather large icicle that was thrown by Cera, simply nodded her head, giving him leeway to do so. Mach released his umpteenth sigh and spoke aloud.

"Ancestors, dammit!"

"Cera!? Don't use that language!"

"I am not-so-sorry to report that your son, Ellix, has been mentally murdered, and is now seeking refuge away from your indecent living space. He is currently ancestors-know-where, and is happier than any of you are going to feel tonight- and quite possibly ever." Mach heard his mother scoff with annoyance, obviously catching onto the insinuated meaning of the statement. Mach opened his maw to speak but was cut off by another shout from his right.

"Ah, shi-! My tail!" Mach and Vinea both turned their heads to see Joule, flopped down on his back with a rather large piece of ice stuck to his tail blade, effectively pinning him to the floor with limited means of escape. Not too far from him was a devilishly content male and Joule's two family members.

"Good shot, Selic," muttered the pyrite dragon's mate before she pounced on the downed electric dragon.

Mach winced when he heard muffled screams as the other two dragons added their weight to the pile up, smothering Joule with their bodies. Slowly, Mach turned his head back around and continued to read where he left off, occasionally glancing fearfully over his shoulder at the mass of flailing wings and tails.

"He would like to tell all of you that he won't be returning to the pheromone palace for the next three weeks and bids you all gravidity and joy. However, he really doubts that anything will change, since you all can't seem to lay off each other." Mach stopped reading at the sound of laughter, and with a quick flip of the head he found Selic standing over him with a smug look on his face. Sapphire and Cera joined him within seconds, both sharing the look that Selic donned, clearly done tormenting Joule for his comment.

"He also states that if you deny the fact that you're all being affected by the time of year he could prove you wrong, and that he _will_ kill Cera if you don't keep her locked up and away from doors and windows. Since she seems to love playing matchmaker." At this note, every eye turned to Cera, who was deeply staring into the ground with a rather strange mix of anger and dubiety.

"How did he figure that out," she murmured to herself. But when Cera returned her gaze to her now silent family members, she found them giving her the 'really?' look. "What!?" she whined, "It wasn't _that_ obvious!" Unsurprisingly, said stare only deepened.

Ignoring his consort's foolishness, Mach looked down at the remainder of the message on the piece of bark. The next part of the note was were Ellix had personally described how each of the family members had been acting, giving each a short paragraph. Mach was a bit hesitant to read his part due to the fear that he would be the one to get yelled at for reading it, because the others might think it was _him_ insinuating all the rather... inappropriate ideas contained within. After a second of silence Mach took a deep, reluctant breath and read.

"Since Mach is most likely reading this I'll start with him." Selic snorted again, gaining him a sharp glare from his son. "If there was one word to describe your attitude it would be 'Yes.' I don't remember one instance in which you said 'no' during the entirety of the time I was there. In fact, I bet that if Sapphire asked, you'd say 'yes.'" This time Sapphire recoiled and looked down to Mach, her face lighting up like coals, while everyone else just sat in silence. "Do you still want me to continue…" Mach asked his audience, his monotone speech expressing his explicit anger about having to relay the sexually insulting idea to everyone. Sadly, all he was given was an array of forced nods, and with a low grumble, he continued.

"Cera, if you could be more demanding then you are right now, I would guarantee you that even Mach would just get up and leave, despite the fact that he is also being affected by the raging hormones that _engulf_ this cave." As he read this, Cera visibly tensed up and gave him a look of overwhelming desperation. Though he attempted to give her a reassuring smile, it didn't stop her from lunging at the piece of bark.

"I'm going to make his sorry hide Grublin fodder!" she shouted, trying to tear at the letter from the grip of her mother, who was- to Mach's relief- not going to let go anytime soon. "Give me that note!"

"Joule," Mach started, ignoring Cera's demands. Upon speaking the lightning user's name, he was given a gruff reply by the now standing, but battered dragon who was quickly shunned down by his three tormentors. "You've had more mood swings than a pregnant dragoness. So I'd recommend you go out and search for some Evitar roots before you start laying rage eggs." Mach swore he hear Selic say something about "too late", but he mentally shrugged it off and went on. Skimming over the next sentence Mach gave a short snort. This was his favorite part of the tone-vacillating letter, short and sweet.

"Sapphire, stop touching Joule." At this sentence Mach looked up to see Sapphire bring her head off Joule's shoulder and snarl at him. Mach winced at the sound but quickly nodded down to the bark scratch that he was reading. Luckily, she caught on and abruptly stopped, a look of utter surprise converging over her face once she realized it was Ellix's message. Mach exhaled deeply and looked down to the note. It was now getting to describe the rest of _his_ family, luckily starting with Vinea.

"Vinea, to be honest you haven't changed all that much with the new season." Mach stopped reading when he heard his mother hum with content, but unfortunately, this was quickly replaced. "However, these 'games' you speak of are more like forced acts of sexuality. So please, just keep it to looking at dragons while they sleep." Vinea balked and her cheeks became a rose red. To make matters worse, all the dragons in the room turned their heads to give her less-than-pleased looks, but the letter didn't stop there. "Also, since you're the only one he'll listen to, take Selic's intolerant ass home…" Silence filled the room but Mach kept reading, oblivious to the surrounding dragons.

"Selic… go home." This was the last sentence in on the note and it most likely had the most impact, due to who it was directed to. Mach also took note of the fact that Ellix failed to give an example of how Ria was acting, though this was most likely because she didn't need one. The unrelenting quiet that filled the cavern when Mach looked up from the letter and the expressions of his fellow dragons made his scales stand on edge. He was very much anticipating an outburst from his father, but the old dragon's response was far more nonstandard.

"That. Little. Prick," was all he said, all while maintaining an unusually calm attitude. However, his body language betrayed him and Mach could clearly see that he was _itching_ to scream at something. After a few seconds of worried glances and shuffling paws, Cera broke the silence.

"So what should we do now?" Cera asked to her left, directing the question at Mach. "Should we go out and look for-?" Suddenly she was cut off by a low rumble.

"No!" Selic shouted, releasing his pent up anger, causing the whole cave to shake. "We're going to _leave_ his sorry ass out there until he's begging to come back!" He let the comment sink in before regaining his usual composure and waiting for a response, and after a second, it came.

"W-What!?" This time, it was Sapphire who spoke up. "We can't do that! We can't just leave him! What if he gets attacked? B-By grublins! O-or apes!" the panic about losing her son was evident in her voice.

"What fucking Grublins!?" he retorted back, unleashing some of his pent-up wrath upon the dragoness. "We haven't seen one sign of the little shits since that earthquake _three_ fucking _weeks_ ago! And don't even get me _started_ on the three- _years_ -gone apes!" The cave became silent again. It was true, they hadn't seen any signs of the grublins since a massive earthquake that almost collapsed the cave at the beginning of the month, and if it wasn't for Selic, Sapphire, and Vinea creating pillars to hold the roof up, it would have. Since then, they had been able to freely move about the landscape without drawing attention. However, despite the chance at relief, they remained vigilant; all but Selic, that is. He had decided within a day that it was safe and practically threw himself outside.

"That doesn't mean anything, Selic, and you know it!" Joule shouted back, taking his mate's side with newfound vigor. "You know as well as I that just because the enemy retreats doesn't mean that they won't attack again, or have you forgotten your training already!"

"Shut it, _Sergeant_!" Selic replied with as much malice as he could muster. "Or have _you_ already forgotten to respect your commanding officer!" His eyes locking with Joule's in a deadly staring contest where neither would back down.

"Both of you need to sto-."

"I think we should just wait for him to come back," Cera pushed in.

"Yeah," Mach continued for her. "Ellix is far from stupid. He may be a jerk, but he can take care of himself," he finished turning to Cera who gave him a small nod of approval.

"At least we get a break from his bullshit," Selic quietly chimed in.

"Shut the fuck up, Selic! No one wants to hear your crap right now!" Joule yelled back, finally defending his son.

"It's not that I don't trust in Ellix's abilities," Sapphire responded to her daughter's idea. "I-It's just that the last time… you remember the last time Ellix and your father got attacked by Grublins! I don't want a repeat of that!" a slight crack in her voice appearing as she spoke.

Cera gave her mother a downcast look, she had been there when Ellix and Joule got back from a hunting trip after being attacked by a Grublin troll. Ellix had found the beast standing over the body of another dragon that it had recently killed, and when it turned to Ellix, well... to say the fight was one-sided would have been an understatement.

If it hadn't been for Joule's timely arrival he would have suffered a lot more than just a fractured forearm. Even with Joule as backup, it took their combined strength and an hour of combat to slay the monster, both coming out of the experience half dead. On top of the broken arm, Ellix also gained a multitude of bruises and gashes, including a large rip in his left wing membrane. Having a more intense level of training, Joule had managed to keep his injuries down to a bloody nose and a bruised rib, coupled by his own share of cuts. Either way, it wasn't pretty, and for a month afterwards she had been the one who took care of them while her mother went hunting. However, once they had recovered, hunting became a multiple dragon event.

"Sapphire, that's not goi-."

"Yeah, maybe you don't want a repeat of Ellix's _failures_ ," Selic quipped unnecessarily, "but I bet that if his father had stopped prancing in the meadows and actually fought like a _real_ dragon he would have come out a bit better."

"Is that a challenge!?" Joule boomed, flaring his wings and taking a step forwards only to have Selic mimic him.

"Joule, please stop," Sapphire pleaded.

"Mach, go get the dried meat," Cera stated.

"You bet that's a challenge, spark boy!"

"Maybe we should stop them. I don't think this is going be very enjoyable." Mach mused.

"I'm waiting, Selic! Show me what a _real_ dragon would've done!"

"W-What's going o-on?" Ria asked, having just returned.

"Oh! Also some pelts." Cera continued, over the argument.

"Ancestors dammit Selic, sh-," there was a sigh, "SHUT UP!"

And the whole cave went silent. Six pairs of eyes turn to the back of the cavern, only to find Vinea _fuming_. The ground around her paws quite literally was turning to dust as she clenched her pads. Her lips were curled back into a menacing snarl and a low growl could be heard emanated from her flustered cheeks. A vibrant hazel filled her eyes as her pupils became feral slits that barely let any black show. All in all, she didn't look happy, not in the slightest, and as she took a few steps forward, everyone else flinched back.

"Stop acting like hatchlings and do something productive!" she yelled, albeit more quietly than last time. Still, no one moved. Instead, they all exchanged nervous glances. Vinea looked between the dumbfounded dragons in front of her. "This. This! Arguing! Needs! To! Stop!" from what she could see, no one was going to do anything. So, once again, it was up to her to get people moving. With a disgusted huff, she started pushing.

"You're _all_ being so stupid," she started, shoving Selic away from Joule's face, knocking him down as if he was no more than a ten-year-old, and towards the entrance of the cave. She then proceeded to throw the hunting satchel that was lying nearby in his face and kick his ass back up.

"Go get something edible! Or if you haven't noticed. We. Have. Nothing!" she finished eyeing the rather unappetizing pieces of venison thrown about the dirt-filled room. Either to emphasize her point or just punish him, she used her element to grab the small pieces of dirt that stuck to the meat and began to throw the food at her mate, not only startling him but making him scurry to the entrance of the cavern. After a short snort, Vinea continued her rant.

She then strode over to Ria, who had popped in on the argument midway, and picked up the quivering child in her maw. Ignoring her daughter's squeal of fear, Vinea made her way over to Cera then unceremoniously _dropped_ Ria onto the back of the ice dragoness, receiving a short yelp from both for her efforts. Then, she picked both of them up with one paw, hobbled back over to the entrance of the cave were Selic was still standing, and stopped.

"You. Comfort her," she said motioning from Cera to Ria with an impassive edict. Then, without warning, she _threw_ both Ria and Cera out of the cave and over the cliff face, only to watch them scream in shock then instinctively snap open their wings and right themselves in the air.

Continuing her anger-fueled leadership, Vinea stomped back into the main chamber and stopped. With a grimace, she strode up to the slightly cowed Sapphire. Grabbing the dragoness by the horn, Vinea tore her from Joule's grasp and began to drag her over to the remaining groups of plants.

"You, are going to help me finish this!" she stated plainly, dropping her friend next to a yet-to-be-removed patch of grass. Without warning, she turned around and gave Joule and Mach a glare that could kill. Dragging her gaze between the two for a few seconds, she spoke.

"You two just do whatever the hell you were doing." Mach and Joule recoiled slightly, not being given a job and all. But nonetheless they exchanged worried glances and turned back to the now trampled and broken note.

* * *

 _Clunk!_

The sound bore through the silence like a hot knife slicing warmer butter.

 _Crack!_

The birds had stopped chirping, the sound of water flowing around rocks had become all but void, and even the wind had made no indication that it still existed. Instead, the sounds of life had been replaced by the rhythmic thumping of rock on rock, and the dull _clunks_ and _cracks_ that followed. The small, fragile pebble sped over the ground before smacking headlong into another. Abruptly stopping its forced journey until another kick came by to repeat the process.

The inanimate object's torture had been occurring for well over an hour, as Kein found nothing else to pass the time with. It was this sadistic method of entertainment that had accompanied him since his stop at the cliff, where he had had his epiphany. However, despite the time passed, he felt as if he was getting no closer to reaching his goal than before, and the mysterious smoke had all but left his sight.

At the time in which he realized this, Kein considered going back and attempting to find the pillar of smoke again; considering he had not even compared the placement of said smoke to the sun. This would have seemed logical, due to the fact that it would allow him to more accurately trek through the forest, but he had thought about this no more than five minutes ago, since he was so caught up in thinking of questions he would ask the people he found at the base of the smoke. So at this point, it would be an incredibly stupid idea to try and go back.

So now, with no current task in mind, he aimlessly wandered in the direction he had been so hopefully following, hoping that it was indeed still the right path. He had long ago left the willow forest and was now kilometers deep in the increasingly stereotypical oak forest. Once again, Kein marveled at the pristine trees and neatly trimmed bushes, the crystal clear waters and expansive meadows. Still, the sky was his favorite. But now was not the time to think about that. No, instead he needed to find shelter. Not some tree root bunk like the last time, he needed a real place that he could call 'temporary home.'

Kein suddenly shook these thoughts from his head. He wasn't alone out here, and how he had so easily forgotten the smoke from earlier was a mystery. Even then, as soon as he reached said town, he was just going to ask for a map and get the hell out of dodge. Still, it didn't seem like a bad idea, and there were plenty of good places that he had passed while walking. Plus, it would give him time to stay away from his brothers.

Another shiver ran down his spine. How could they have done that? They kicked him out of the house and ran him out of the state, literally. Now he was gone, and they were what, alone? They had each other, but that didn't really count. Also, how long had he been gone? There was yesterday, where he had woken up in the middle of a small meadow after being unconscious. So, was it just a couple hours that he had been out? Or maybe even a full day? His thoughts trailed back to the previous morning. It couldn't have been that long, he hadn't felt hungry or, honestly, well rested, therefore it could have only been a simple 'nap'.

Then there was the meadow. The large, strange, and unbelievably beautiful meadow that had been the last thing he saw. What was its role in this whole fiasco? Clearly it brought him… here. Well, it wasn't necessarily the meadow itself, but maybe the stone he had landed on, but even then! Was it really the rock? If not, what was it? The totally existent beetle that was _on_ the rock? Possibly, not even _that_! _It could have been the evil bacterium on the_ beetle! To him, it was just a conveniently placed boulder, or beetle, or bacterium that he had been unlucky enough to hit his head on. Obviously, he had woken up somewhere else. So, was it some kind of portal? Taking its users to a pristine land filled with paper machè trees and sugary water?

Maybe it was like some _Alice in Wonderland_ nonsense, and this was all some sick lucid dream that his brain was creating. However, as he thought about it more, some of his previous ideas came up. If this was just a dream, then first of all, damn! That was a good pear! Good job in the detail, brain! Secondly, that meant he was still in the glade from before. Also meaning that Tom was still there with him. Kein knew that dreams were shorter than the nights in which people have them. Due to the multiple times in which his own three-second dreams resulted from eight hours of sleep. Getting back onto topic; this couldn't be a dream for that reason. He had been here for a day and a half, at least, already. If the same logic were to be applied, that would mean he had been asleep for, what…

 _Eight divided by three, then thirty-six hours here..._ Kein began doing the calculations in his mind. _That times sixty squared... and then one hundred and twenty-nine thousand six hundred seconds times... two point six? Around three hundred and thirty fucking thousand hours of sleep! What!?_ Once he acquired an answer, as unbelievable as it was, Kein stopped. Three hundred and thirty thousand hours! That had to be a lie. But upon finishing the math again, and achieving the same outcome, Kein sighed.

Okay, if that were the case, then there is _no way_ in hell that he was still alive. Divide that by twenty four hours a day! That's easily fourteen thousand days! Thirty-five fucking years! If Tom hasn't stabbed him in thirty five _years_! Then again, he would have starved or dehydrated by that time, or been eaten by wild animals, or succumbed to the elements… all in all, and for what it was worth, dream logic says he should be dead! The more Kein thought, the more unnerved he became. If this was a dream, then holy shit did he underestimate his body's longevity! If you ignored that idea, then good lord did his brain have some absurdly powerful imaginative capabilities! The sights, the textures, the smells, and heck! Even the tastes seemed real! Yet they couldn't be, could they?

But what if this wasn't a dream? Then what? Teleportation wasn't a thing yet, at least not to his knowledge, and Kein was fairly sure, _fairly_ sure, that he did not have the ability to teleport, but one could hope. However, there was a major flaw in this idea in the form of his actual location. Kein had no idea where he really was, for all he could know, he could still be within the borders of the United States… or maybe Canada. Though, to his knowledge, Canada doesn't have huge forests of oak trees! But, just for the sake of things, Kein let his mind open wide and take in all the outrageous ideas of teleportation and such.

As all these thoughts and many more continued to fill his head, Kein's concept of time was whisked away. As the hours continued and the sun sank lower in the sky, he found himself falling deeper and deeper into his pit of thought. He was so deep in fact, that he failed to noticed that he was now half way into a rather large glade, and the rock he had been kicking was all but buried in the grass. It wasn't until a chilling gust of wind hit him, snapping him out of his trance-like state, did he finally realize where he was.

It was absolutely massive, maybe a hundred meters across and easily the same in width. The grass that covered the small field was not unlike the foliage that he had found in every other meadow, though in far more impressive quantities. However, unlike most of the glades he had encountered, this was void of any trees or shrubs. Making it look like a football field. To add on to the soccer idea, this particular meadow was completely flat, with not the slightest bump or hill able to be found across its surface.

Another blast of cold wind hit his face, causing Kein to shiver uncontrollably within its grasp. Out of habit, he looked up to the sky. But upon peering upwards, he raised an eyebrow in confusion, due to the fact that barely any clouds were currently present in the blue wasteland. He did happen notice one thing, the sun had moved positions again. From what he could guess, it was about... four? In the afternoon. So just about an hour-and-a-half of travel since he left the cliff face. Once again Kein was blasted out of his thoughts by another freezing wind. Grabbing his coat from around his waist, he stole a look straight down the length of the field, staring for a few moments and gaining a sudden sense of uneasiness within the open space.

Taking a reluctant step forward, Kein began to cross the meadow and slowly donned his jacket. But before any forward progress could be made, a loud _crunch_ halted his lackadaisical progress. His anxiety was multiplied ten fold and he began to dart his head around. Taking up an awkward defensive stance, Kein shuffled his feet and was once again he was met with another loud _crunch_. This time, however, his foot felt resistance. Taking a quick peek down, Kein's eyes widened; the grass beneath his feet was covered in a thin layer of frost.

Kein hurriedly removed his shoe from the crushed patch of foliage and took a few rushed paces back. He had not noticed it before, but the air around him was _much_ colder than it had been five minutes ago. Fidgeting nervously, he looked up to the forest ahead of him. To his surprise, the trees had a film of ice covering them, much like the grass beneath him. Before logic could apply, this sleet was shaken off as a gust of wind rattled the tree branches. Balking in surprise, Kein turned his head around. Sadly, his face only scrunched up in disbelief at the sight exhibited behind him. The forest from which he had just arrived was completely unchanged. The trees were a luscious green, the grass was flowing with the wind, and the sky was shining brightly.

Abruptly, the wind then decided to give Kein a quick smack with its icy hand, bringing his attention back to the other side of the glade. Rubbing the back of his head for warmth, Kein turned perplexedly. Unsurprisingly, his jaw dropped and he took a step back, causing more frozen grass to crack. Within the seconds that he had not been looking, the ice had refrozen everything and the area was now shrouded in the sinister shadow of a cloud. Kein watched, mouth agape as the field before him continued to glaciate in the middle of the day. He was used to this kind of weather, living in the north and all, but this was just ridiculous! So, with all reasoning now completely null and void, Kein let out a small, forced sigh and took a tentative step forward. Trying his best to ignore the fact that he just witnessed an impossible flash freeze twice-over. However, before he could take even half a step forward, the forest on his upper right began to shake.

Kein eyed the trees with a frightened stare and once again he took up an impromptu defensive stance. But even in this semi-confident position he faltered when the ground shook, sparing a gasp. Taking yet another step back, his head frantically attempted to look through the thick, frozen foliage. But before he could get a decent look, one of the bushes broke, and a rather frantic-looking deer shot out. The animal sprinted across the field like a missile, its neck bent around so it could look at the tree line behind it. It suddenly made a sharp left and continued its non-stop trip, straight towards Kein. It wasn't until the stag was a little more than five meters away from him did it finally turn to look where it was going; coming to a screeching halt no more than a body's length from the stunned human. Both exchanged stares and surprised looks before Kein noticed a pink dust around the animal's mouth.

"You little-," he growled upon realizing what the dust was, and took a running step towards the frightened animal. Unfortunately, He didn't get far as the deer recoiled with new found terror and scampered off in the direction it had come from. Kein watched with great ire as the buck bounded away, but it didn't last long and he soon found himself losing interest and calmly walking again. The animal was still in sight due to the meadow's enormousness, and it still had a good way to go before it would reach the tree line.

Suddenly, the ground shook again and another numbing blast of wind found its way into the clearing, causing him to stumble slightly. Kein snapped his sight to the deer ahead, only to find that it had stopped and was now looking off to his right with a horrified expression. Before Kein could begin to guess at what was so alarming, a deafening roar sounded over the treetops, followed by another wave of cold.

Out of the treeline the deer was gaping at, a huge iceberg-blue blob shot out of the forest, its path set straight for the still animal. Kein and the deer could only watch in fright as the strangely colored beast pounced on the petrified creature, killing it with a single swipe of a foreleg.

Kein couldn't move, he could only stare dubiously at the hulking creature that now stood over its kill. He could practically smell the blood from here, and it _did not_ set well in his stomach. However, his nausea was overridden by the sheer absurdity of what his eyes were seeing. _I… what? What the actual fuck is this!? It's huge! What? Four meters tall and at least two times as long! What creature! Zero! That's what! What is it like, an elephant!? A fucking blue ass, carnivorous elephant! What kind of elephant eats another elephant! Sick elephants! Sick car-… cannibalistic… elephants… what? Dammit._ If it hadn't been for that fact that he was attempting to be quiet, Kein would have face-palmed.

Taking a deep breath and slowly releasing his tense muscles, Kein began to massage is temples. _Okay, first of all, it's not an elephant, imagination, thank you very much. Second, it hasn't noticed me yet, which, is a good thing. Hopefully._ At least he had that going for him. It allowed Kein to better determine what he was looking at, because, he was not fairly certain that it was not an elephant.

The creature was at least a fifty meters away from him, but even from this negligible vantage he could make out a few minor details as well as all the major appearance factors. He started with its mouth; Kein couldn't even start to identify what it was if he didn't know what it ate. However, as soon as its muzzle came into focus, he went pale. Kein frightenedly observed its massive, white, razor like teeth. Okay, so not the best first impression. It was obviously a carnivore. Therefore, once again, not an elephant... at least of the herbivorous variety. Upon finding this new development, Kein found himself less afraid and more traumatized. How was there a predator this _large_! It must have to eat at least twice a day to maintain a body mass that ridiculous as well as any form of muscle density!

Ignoring the biological facts for the time being, Kein continued his observations. He continued studying its muzzle and found several other unexpected things. It also had five completely straight _horns_ , all of which were sticking straight back from its head. While the horns themselves weren't exactly all that special, that fact that there were _five_ of them was enough to get some thoughts churning. Kein shuddered, thinking about what might happen if something were to be struck by them, because, well, elephant size and shit. Also, from what he could see, there was a sets of… frills, that ran unmoving along each side of its face; one long pair that went from the front of its jaw to the back, and one about half that size just above the first. Assuming that symmetry of evolution still applies for this thing, there must have been another set on the other side of its face. Kein had no idea what purpose these served, other than giving it a more disturbing appearance. Despite this rather unsettling thought, he continued gazing along the length of the now sitting beast, his eyes squinting due to the reflection of light off its picton, _blue_. Yeah... no, not an elephant. Colored... _scales_? Like a lizard?

He noticed that it occasionally had royal _purple_ blemishes on its flank, and if the thing could be anymore strangely colored, its underbelly- which he was able to get an occasional glance at- that held a shape similar to stacked fucking _plate mail_ , was navy blue, totaling _four_ very distinct and differentiated colors, if you counted the white horns and claws. Moving his eyes to the creature's back, he noticed what seemed to be overly elevated ridges; seemingly placed on each of its vertebrae, or that's what it looked like. Having long been removed from his comfort zone, he glanced down at the reptile's tail; which was oscillating methodically like a nervous tick. It had what appeared to be a meter long sword attached to the end of it, and at the hilt of said sword, two smaller ones protruded at forty five degree angles.

 _What the hell! Why is this thing so armored!? It's like a walking weapon rack!_ Kein trembled in disbelief as he counted the possible weapons. _Long as knives teeth, sharp as razors claws, and a goddamn sword! Who the hell needs the mafia when you could just tame one of these!_ As the creature suddenly sank the blade into the ground, Kein's eye began twitching. Out of all the things he would have expected to see on his impromptu camping trip, this was on the _bottom_ of the list. Hell, it wasn't even _on_ the list! Fuck, he didn't even _have_ a list! But wait- if this was going on a _new_ list, wouldn't that make it the _top_ of the list as well? And since a list is created with one item in its first iteration, it was the _only_ thing on the list! While it might be the only thing on this insane 'What I Will See on My Impromptu Camping Trip' list, what part of the fucking world has _these_ living there? If there was such a place, he could understand why no one had said anything. But rather than high tailing out and away from the demonic predator, Kein only continued to watch.

As Kein observed the creature from afar, one new thing became apparent. Its back seemed to be moving. Not in like a smooth, spine bending back and forth kind of movement, but more of a twitching or spasmodic shuffling. This completely confused him, it was like there was another animal on the back of the blue lizard… was this a mother? Because if so, he knew he needed to get the hell out! However, despite this enfeebling fear, he found himself much too intrigued to much to leave.

Squinting, Kein attempted to get a better look at the animal without moving. Sure enough, its back was moving oddly, and now that it was a bit more clear, it seemed to jerk almost like an arm would in its socket. Kein was about to question the idea of extra arms when the creature suddenly started to adjust itself, mainly by lifting up each paw and rotating it, like a human would do with its wrist. Kein's eyebrows were already raised, but they might as well have fallen off. Before anything else could be contemplated, the creature's back erupted and two massive fucking _bat wings_ popped out, and started flapping around like a chicken's.

All thoughts stopped and Kein clasped his hands together around his nose. _What is this? What the fuck is this!? Wings? Wings!? How is that a thing!? The creature's already massive! How the hell can it support wings!?_ At this point Kein had released his nose and was now rubbing random areas on his face. Despite this, his internal rant continued. _Secondly, how can it even fly!? Sure, those are some pretty large effing wings, but for the sake of God, how big is this thing!? It wouldn't even be able to get off the ground!_ He was absolutely past awestruck, now he was just angry. _This completely ignores all biological, physical, and logical theories of evolution out there! This shouldn't be possible, this isn't possible! Is this… is this a joke!? Am I drugged!? Was there fucking LSD in that fruit!? God dammit!_

Kein suddenly jumped in place as the quadruped let out a loud growl and bent down over the dead deer, knocking him out of his incredulous thought process. It then took the deceased and bloody animal in its mouth and placed the carcass inside a large bag on its side, which was already bulging. Kein swallowed in panic, he could visibly see the blood of many creatures soaking through the cloth, churning his insides yet again. Then, without warning, the thing stood up and another wave of ice cold air washed over him. His logical anger having died, he was now filled with a sense of dread and backed away from the towering animal without thought. Unfortunately, before he could take his second step, a loud _crunch_ broke the silence.

 _Fuuuuuck._

* * *

 **Aetheo: And on** _ **THAT**_ **lovely note, we'll leave you for another two weeks! MUAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *COUGH* *COUGH***

 **Actually, we'll see you on Wednesday. Because SOME PEOPLE… shouldn't even have to hint, wanted to break this into multiple chapters… I had it all written out! All twenty-eight** _ **thousand**_ **words! But nooOOOooo!**

 **Aetheo: SLAVERY! I tell ya, voluntary slavery is the WORST! Additionally, it WAS 60 pages long. Much as I like to read, that's a bit much.**

 **Damn straight it was! I was writing that for a while! But fine! There you have it!**

 **Aetheo: Beetles and rocks and elephants, oh my!**

 **Ssethelis: You may notice that I haven't put in much this time. That is because I am burnt out from the 28k words I had to deal with.**

 **Sometimes I wonder if anything really has any order to it at all. Like, these notes are nothing but just… shit… that pops into our heads. Seriously… are these suppose to mimic actually conversation… cause if so, I think there should be a law to enforce it.**

 **Aetheo: PRAISE ERIS! I AM THE ~** **=POPE=** **!**

 **See, literally just to spite me. Every. Fucking. Time. Ugh… dammit… You know what. You can tell them Aetheo, you can fucking do it.**

 **Aetheo: We're actually gonna be doing something more realistic in the way of conversation: A VR story, with magic and demons and thousands of years of random gender-bender. When it comes out, I hope Mr. Author decides to advertise it, because it may-or-may-not be on here. Probably not, but whatever.**

 **Yeah, I won't spoil tooo much, but let's just say that it's going to be chaotic. And VR isn't a story type, more of just that title of the story that we've shortened.**

 **Aetheo: And caustic. I like that word. (And it is a story type. Meanie.)**

 **Ssethelis: Chaotic, Caustic, and- in my case- possibly carcinogenic.**

 **If anyone is interested, we're gonna be posting the first chapter in seven days. As well as the last two… eh…** _ **parts**_ **.. of this one. So keep tabs!**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading!**

 **MakeSureToKnock, Aetheo, and Ssethelis.**


	6. Two Below Freezing

**I totally lied.**

 **Aetheo: I started editing this one first! And told the unfortunate tooth.**

 **Like, lied so hard, the lie was a lie.**

…

 **Oh, GOD! That play-on-word! I can't say that I know what he's talking about, but… OOOOOH PLEASE! I need…. I need a… moment… please… to get the crap… out of my system…**

 **Krathnic: ;—;** **not a correct use of semicolons, or em dashes.**

 **Okay, please. Let's not talk about the punctuation experimentation that this truly is…**

 **Krathnic: That's an internal rhyme.**

 **Aetheo: Fuck English terms. And you, for using them.**

 **Krathnic: From now on, all the time, my sentences will contain internal rhyme.**

 **Alright, alright! Let's stop with the ad hominem battle! Geez, move forwards with the Author's Notes.**

 **Krathnic: THAT IS NOT THE PROPER USE OF THAT FALLACY, WHAT A TRAGEDY**

 **Shhsh! Shhhhhhhhhh! Silence! Okay! As some of you may notice- assuming you read the A/N's from here on up… only those people would understand- Krath here has taken up the task of being yet another person who looks over this...**

 **Krathnic: I just told you about em dashes, yet you still don't use them—please abuse them.**

 **Aetheo: Y'know, if you had a concert on top of a moving tour bus, you really would have put the show on the road.**

 **Ignoring all irrelevant comments, do you know what that means? Yup! That's right, even more fucking A/N chaos! Because we all know you love that.**

 **Krathnic: The unfortunate tooth tells a devastating truth.**

 **And the devastating truth is this:**

 **I own nothing. Unfortunate, but the tooth. If I did! well… I actually don't know what I would do. I can't exactly make another installation of the Spyro series. Plus, with all the arguments over which set of the games is better… Yeah, I don't think that would end well. I'm talking Internet fallout here people. Prepare for the oncoming storm.**

 **Krathnic: Em dash—Not a backslash.**

 **Goddamnit! I don't use those! Why? So that I can keep at least one thing consistent!**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: Two Below Freezing**

Kein had no idea what sound was more frightening: the deep rumble that was coming from the unrealistically large lizard or the thunderous _crunch_ that he just successfully created. In less than a second, he got his answer. The reptile whipped its head around with shocking speed and locked its gaze on Kein in a matter of milliseconds. Neither Tom nor Will could cause a sense of absolute terror that could equate to this. What the heck could he do against this!? Besides the obvious, it was most likely faster than him, no doubt stronger than him, and it could fucking _fly_ , apparently! What did Kein have? A knife- albeit a knife with a red ribbon hilt. How that made it better, he was unsure, but it must be! Only the best things had red bows on them!

The small staring contest lasted for the next half-minute, each side refusing to avert their eyes from the others'. Kein could have sworn he saw the creature's original expression change from pure sadistic anger to unmitigated awe. However, none of that really mattered, considering that the lizard 'fixed' its demeanor and began to growl threateningly at him.

Kein paled at the sound and started to back away, hoping to avoid a conflict with something that was twice his height, and many, many times his body mass. Sadly, that prayer was decidedly ignored as the brute started to stalk towards him, snarling. The distance between them closed within seconds until the beast was only twenty meters away from him. If Kein's jaw could've fallen any farther it would have, but it wasn't given the time. Without provocation, the creature opened its maw wide. Not wanting to spend the time learning _firsthand_ why it spent so much time doing this, Kein began backpedaling. Unfortunately for him, he only got a few meters before the lizard released a grunt that sounded like… hocking a loogie?

As off-putting as this sounded, Kein still managed to find this unsurprising. Since he had been watching the monstrous blue creature this entire time, he had the privilege of forewarning- or, at least knowing what it spat. He was totally fine with getting spit on. To him, it wasn't that much of a big deal. Sure, it was degrading and essentially it meant that you were equivalent to dirt. But, hey! At least, it wasn't harmful. This, however, was a _completely_ different scenario. Just from the size of the creature Kein knew this was going to be some serious sputum. Adding onto the fact that it's a _reptile_ probably meant that it was venomous. All in all, he didn't want to get hit by it.

So, out of self-taught instincts, Kein immediately started to rotate his body to the left before the missile was even launched. After completing a full three hundred and sixty-degree turn, Kein stopped his movement by sticking his arms out and falling into a crouched position with one knee and hand on the ground. Mere nanoseconds after he finished his spin, a dull _shank_ sounded from his right. Snapping his head to the side, Kein fixed his vision on the spot he was standing milliseconds before.

Lodged in the ground, in the exact place he was previously, was a massive, meter long, chunk of _ice_. An icicle! A _spear_ of effing _ice_!

Kein quickly reevaluated his level of safety.

After the whole bat wings incident less than five minutes before, Kein was more than inclined to disregard the logical barriers of his previous reality, and accept any new things this animal had to show him. But this completely threw away any of his conceptions or explanations that he had built up throughout his life in an attempt to make some sense of the natural order. It shoots _ice_!? From its _face_!? The fuck!? What is this supposed to be? The apex predator? Did he stumble upon some kind of Area 51, but for those crazy geneticists who were genetically modifying genomes or some shit!? Wait… _fucking LSD!?_ Maybe! Possibly! Hopefully!

Kein refocused his thoughts and eyes, then apprehensively jerked his attention back to the reptile, who- he was surprised to find- had an equally shocked expression. Apparently, this thing didn't miss much. But this mien didn't last long, still turning ever so darker, the creature's countenance flipped to angry and it opened its maw again. This time, a faint blue mist leaked from its mouth like a hydro dam's spillway in a flood, coalescing off of the shape of _another_ icicle inside the thing's mouth. Kein felt himself die on the inside and barely managed to dodge to the right with a small roll before another icicle shot past his body. It was at this moment in which realization struck him: this thing wanted him gone.

 _And these are a lot faster than water balloons!_ Kein thought hysterically as he recovered. He was quickly retargeted and fired on, but without missing a beat, he swung his arms to the right, lurching his shoulders enough to have the most recent spear miss his left lung and instead skid harmlessly along his back. Straightening himself out, he cringed at the hulking quadruped, who hadn't moved in the slightest.

Not wanting to become a mangled mess of mystery meat, Kein started to backpedal again as fast as possible. The creature to his front gave a snort, obviously not caring if he attempted to escape, and launched yet another spear of ice. Sadly for the hat-adorned human, his focus was diverted enough so that he saw this particular icicle just slightly too late, though that didn't stop him from attempting to dodge it. Just before impact, he arched back and to the right. The ice chunk shot past his body and below his left arm, a small area of it sliding down his underarm and cutting his jacket.

 _Fuck!_ Kein screamed mentally. Quick as he could, he placed his right hand across the cut and fell to a tight kneel, all while simultaneously keeping his eyes on the blue brute. At this point, he knew that one second he wasn't looking was one spear that stuck out of his gut, so there was no room for his human error. Luckily, when he made eye contact with the reptile it froze, and didn't shoot another spike. Thanking any gods he still had favor with for his short respite, Kein began to feel around the area of the slash. There was a small cut, maybe four centimeters long on the bottom of his arm. It didn't hurt much, mainly due to the unnerving fact that his whole arm was chilled to the bone.

"Ahhh, double fuck," Kein groaned to himself when he felt a small trickle of blood flow over his hand, causing his nausea to well up again- though this went ignored as it was decidedly less important. He was glad that the ice numbed the cut, but if this thing's attacks could freeze you just from being grazed, he had some serious problems. With his eyes still on the lizard, he stood back up. Apparently, this was the _wrong_ thing to do, because the second Kein was back up, the thing shot _another_ spear at him.

 _Fuck! Fucking triple fuck!_ Kein thought, grunting as he dashed to the side. _This is getting ridiculous._ He couldn't turn and run because the damn thing would just put a spike in his back. He can't fight it because one, it's fucking _huge_ , and two, what the heck would he even use? His fists? He didn't even know what the hell this was! How could he hope to fight it if it remained unknown! Realizing the situation was hopeless, Kein began to panic. His dodges becoming more frantic and his movements less exact. Once again, in his fear, he made yet another mistake. A singular spear was shot at him and he misinterpreted its trajectory; his flaw being that instead of rotating his hips, he moved his chest. While it was still enough to prevent the ice from directly hitting him and cutting him, the indirect impact pushed him to the left and knocked him over.

"All the fucks!" Kein shouted as the rolled down the field, barely causing a cheap shot to miss; it still somehow managing to clip the zipper off his jacket. He was now _surrounded_ by the corpses of _ten_ previously fired icicles. However, this was not a bad thing. These, at least provided a small amount of cover for him and made it harder for the bastard to target him. Or, at least he thought.

He was in the center of the spears of ice when the creature slammed its left paw to the ground. At first, he was baffled. What was it trying to do? Intimidate him!? It doesn't need to start fucking sumo stomping to do that! Though before he could continue in his attempts to solve the mystery of Japanese wrestling practices, the glint of reflected light caught his eye. Kein watched aghast as the creature's paw began to wrap itself in ice, the mist from before having transferred to its feet without explanation nor foreshadowing. Sadly, his astonishment was cut off by the sound of ringing glass. Kein was knocked out of his wonder when the ice spikes around him started to vibrate. With awestruck eyes Kein watched the parts of each spear explode, and from those detonations, smaller, needle covered shards of ice shot out. Each one connecting with another spike from a different spear. Before Kein could even react, he was surrounded by a barbed-wire fence of ice.

Having no time to be amazed, Kein whipped around to his attacker only to find it stalking forward with a viciously malicious smile. It stopped at about fifteen meters away, and started to take a deep breath; the mist that was now around its maw only thickening in response. Kein started to panic again. This was not like the times in which it shot spears at him- that happened almost instantaneously. This was _way_ more exaggerated; therefore, it was either a larger spike or something completely different.

Kein was partially correct, it was something different. The offensive move still related to snow. But hey, at least he was somewhat right. Getting into an evasive stance, Kein prepared for the lightning fast spear that was sure to come, and after a full second of 'charging' the creature released its attack. It was at this point in which Kein realized why the creature had trapped him in a small cage. A blindingly thick _stream_ of snow flew from its mug at incredible speeds, completely encasing the pen like area where Kein was standing in a blizzard. His eyes widened and out of instinct the sleeves of his arms shot up to his face. When the wave hit, he was knocked on his back and forced to the ground; he barely managed to roll onto his stomach as snow continued to pile up around him.

As the flurry faded and the snow settled, the area Kein was in seconds before was now buried in ice powder; the front of the pile being covered in a snow plow like sheet of ice. Suddenly, Kein popped up out of the middle of the mound of Frosty's shavings, gasping for air. Through his labored breathing, he could hear the creature scoff in outrage. At this point Kein could not have cared less if the bitch was about to shoot him with another spear. He was fucking _cold_ , _sore_ , and _extremely annoyed_. Not at the idea that he almost suffocated in snow, but that fact that this _thing_ is such a mis-matched pile of illogical _B.S._!

Slowly, Kein stood up. Brushing off pieces of ice and snow that still clung to this jacket, continuing to hold eye contact with the still befuddled creature in front of him. Before he could stand to his full height, his satchel strap was suddenly pulled taut. Completely ignoring the aqua-colored menace in front of him, Kein looked down at his feet and went slack-jawed. Slowly, almost hesitantly, he bent down and grasped the heavy object in his hands. It was his satchel, frozen over with a _very_ thick layer of ice. Twitching, twitchy eyes, shaking hands, distraught expression.

"God. Fucking. Dammit," he spoke bitterly, staring flustered at the crystalline _box_ that held his most prized possessions. But he quickly re-assigned his point of focus when his attacker released an enraged roar, causing his hat to fly off and hair whip back. Kein was altogether _unfazed_ by this. It's pissed? That fucker's pissed!? Really? What the hell did it have to be angry about? It's not like this giant fuck was teleported into some random-ass forest and attacked by a massive effing monster! Wait… oh, maybe? Fine, benefit of the doubt. Seriously though, fuck that! It didn't matter! It's the one who _froze over_ his satchel! He should be the livid one, which in fact, he was!

Kein shook the snow from his hair with one hand, absolutely ignoring the big blue shit that was in front of him. Without warning, or care, he flat out dropped his satchel on the ground and left it to fall over. Then, he proceeded to glare at his attacker, turn around, stride over to his hat- which was conveniently void of snow- and snatch it up; he slapped it on his head, spun _back_ around, picked his satchel back up, and _flipped off_ the bastard that remained motionless.

Regardless of the fact that Kein doubted the animal could understand what the middle finger represented, or if it was the smug fucking smile that was currently plastered on his face, it got angry. Either way, Kein didn't care, he went from pissed, to frightened, to _livid_ in just five minutes, and so far everything this thing has thrown at him has been easy enough to avoid- as long as he stayed focused- so why not relay some of that feeling of anger with a few vulgar gestures? But the reptile didn't seem to feel like slinging _verbal_ barbs, and decided instead that it far preferred the _physical_ variety.

Kein saw the ice spear from a mile away. Sadly, he was unable to react remotely as fast as he would have liked. Due to the frozen satchel that hung around his neck, he was forced to take the javelin like a man. However, despite this impairment, Kein still had protection from the attack, though not in the way he would have liked. Seemingly through nature's providence, he abruptly brought his frozen satchel up to his chest, barely blocking the bolt of solid water with a deafening _crack_! The force of the impact was enough to send him careening back a few meters and effectively shattering the ice cage that covered his satchel.

Luckily for Kein, the barbed fence that had been previously created was now covered in a dense wall of ice. Regardless of this, as he bounced off the top of the mound, a few of the pointed needles beneath caught his jacket, creating more rips in the snow covered fabric, though this was the least of his worries. The only thing hitting the snow berm successfully did was launch him higher into the air, which in turn only made the landing harder. Kein unceremoniously smacked his ass on the ground with a wet _thud_. Unfortunately, he didn't stop there. Flipping back around, he managed to do a full somersault, smacking his head on the ground before coming to a grinding halt directly on his back.

In an attempt to recover from his trip, Kein brought one hand up to his temple and rubbed the stars from his head. With a weak grunt, he forced his head up and placed his chin on his chest, his eyes having a difficult time focusing on what was directly front of him. His back thoroughly irritated from the rash created from breaking his fall and his head now stung due to the obvious lump that now perched upon it. Kein would have loved to just be able to lie like this for the rest of the day. But, despite his ailments, his mind was subconsciously alerted to the sound of phlegm.

For the sake of survival, Kein abruptly spread-eagled, shooting his legs open and allowing a rather large icicle to impale the ground between them. With a new and sudden awareness that could only be gained from life-threatening experiences, Kein yanked his legs back and took an audibly squeaky breath, half paralyzed at the fact that the things that made him a man had almost got impaled.

Breathing heavily, he peered around his icy shield from the ground and found his gaze snapped to the literally fuming blue bitch, who was standing between two parts of the shattered ice wire fence. Even though he had probably just gotten a minor concussion, Kein still remembered what he was attempting to accomplish before and decided to pull a child's move; sticking his tongue out and wiggling it at the ferocious lizard.

Abruptly, Kein took in a sharp breath and whipped into a standing state immediately regretting mocking his attacker- and pressed his back to the spike as another stream of snow was shot around him; the attack literally creating horizontal icicles that clung to the bolt of frozen snow. Taking deep, labored, anxious breaths, Kein swallowed hard and picked up his satchel- which was icy to the touch- and slung it around his shoulder out of habit.

He was in some deep shit. Enormous blue fucking frost lizard slinging spears of pure frozen water out of its mouth? Yeah, got that. A multitude of cuts, rips, and bruises that limited his ability to dodge said spears? Sure, why not. A goddamn tomb of ice that was literally forming around him as he thought!? You _fucking_ bet! But you want to know what's the best part? The fact that despite all this _bullshit_ that was being thrown at him, Kein still had his sketch book! And his life, that's important too. Back onto topic though, ice prison.

"Shit!" he cursed with a sudden realization. Without a second thought, Kein pushed himself up off his shield and attempted to rugby tackle the rapidly closing entrance to his icy death-box. But just as his left shoulder rammed the side of the wall, the icicles that comprised the coffin completed their journey, locking him within three walls of crystal water.

"God dammit!" Kein screamed, kicking a foot out in a fleeting attempt to escape. After a few more thrusts and a slam of one fist Kein finally settled down enough to think reasonably again. Leaning his head against the right wall Kein put his hands up to the ice, brushing off the small particles of mist that clung to the inside. He could barely make out the color of grass over the pile of snow that surrounded his glacial prison. Kein couldn't see much from this perspective, but he could determine one thing: the frost fucker that was spitting shit at him before had stopped. He had no idea why, and before he had a chance to ponder, a deafening roar that could be heard through the walls unleashed itself on the clearing.

Almost instantly, the porta-john scene from Jurassic park filled half his mind, and a strikingly accurate version of himself getting eaten by the T-Rex stuffed the rest. Kein's expression shrank and he sucked in a breath. Ignoring the fact that it had failed before, he began smacking his heel against the ice, desperately trying to _not_ become dinosaur food. But, just like before, his frantic kicks earned him nothing. Stepping back slightly, Kein began to dart his eyes around the small cell. Slowly bringing his arms up, he let loose a string of profanities that could rival Samuel L. Jackson.

"Fuck! Fucking dammit! Motherfucking, hymen splitting dicks!"

Flailing about, Kein starting slapping random points on the walls around him. He was trapped! Stuck in the _breath_ of a fucking magic ice lizard with bat wings and a goddamn sword for a tail! How could this get any worse! Other than, well... getting eaten like freaking stupid-as-shit Lawyer! At this thought, Kein stopped. Did he really just compare himself to Lawyer from Jurassic Park? Okay, sure he was trapped, sure there was a giant ass lizard, sure he was about to get eaten. But! He was not! Lawyer! Lawyer just sat there and let himself die! Kein would be damned, or dead, before he would sit down and die!

So, with newfound determination, Kein started to 'logically'search around the confined space for something to help him out. Maybe there was a rock or some other heavy object that conveniently got captured with him? Sadly, as Kein brushed away the snow with his feet, the ground below was frozen over, prevented him from seeing too deep or grab any existing tools. Even with the sudden failure, another idea clicked in his mind. Without hesitation Kein began to pat down his jacket, opening zippers and unbuttoning pockets; he stuffed his hands in as many crevices as he could and searching their contents with haste.

"Pencils, pens, erasers, binder clips, letter cutter, staples, staple remover, spork, miniature fucking stapler? What the heck is that doing here?" Kein asked aloud, preparing to stuff the inappropriately placed item back in his satchel. As his hand flipped the cloth flap open, the glimmer of a particular knife caught his attention. Dropping the stapler in a random slot, Kein extended his arm down and grasped the red handle of the blade. Removing it almost timidly, he stared at the hooked edge then back to the ice. Only coincidence would have it that he _just so happened_ to be carrying around an ice pick.

Another roar of rage caused Kein to jump, reminding him of the urgency of his position. Without an afterthought, Kein flipped the knife around to a reverse grip and thrust it into the nearest wall, instantly causing a decent sized lump of ice to fly off and hit the ground. Not satisfied with the amount of crystal removed, he gripped the handle with both hands and jabbed it back into on the same spot, chipping away even more frozen water. But before a third strike could be made, another enraged roar vibrated its way through the ice. Kein would have ignored this had it not been accompanied by the shaking of the earth beneath him and the sound of heavy footfalls.

Shadows formed under his eyes and the grimace of concentration he held all but vanished. _Shit, shit, shit, shit!_ he repeated in his mind, timing each curse with a bash of the knife. Upon the seventh smack, light from the outside flooded into the prison of slush, slightly blinding Kein as it reflected off the mirror-like walls. Thrusting the blade with all his might, Kein managed to push it through the hole and began wriggling it about in a desperate attempt to make it bigger. Sliding the knife back, Kein used the tiniest shred of panicked logic he had, finally taking the hooked edge of the blade and bringing it down to the bottom right side of the wall. Then, he proceeded to drag the hook up the ice, creating an arc that stopped at the hole he had just made.

Quick as a whip, he brought the knife back and did the same thing on the left side, effectively scratching an arch in the wall. Spending no more than a second deepening each groove, Kein took a deep breath and stepped back. After a second of not-so-peaceful meditation, Kein released his breath; he cranked his foot back and propelled his heel onto the center of the arch. With a solid _thud_ , the ice along the carved paths cracked, sending a rippling effect up and down the line. Kein drove his foot into the wall three more times, the ice cracking more and more each on each attempt, but refusing to separate from the remainder of the death-igloo.

In a last ditch effort to break the wall, he reared back and threw his _entire_ body at the ice. With one final _crack_ the wall came down; it tipped outward with agonizing slowness. Kein, unable to keep his balance, fell forward as well, landing hard on the ice below. The first thing he noticed was that the wall hadn't completely hit the ground, rather, it was being suspended at about a forty degree angle by the dune of snow from the last blizzard attack. The second thing he noted was the sun and its glorious, holy light! His body cried out for its warmth after being trapped within frozen walls of water.

Sadly, the third thing he found was the gargantuan, carnivorous, blue, enraged, ice-spitting _fuckface_ charging straight at his former prison. Instantly raising his guard, Kein shoved off the fallen ice and thrust himself onto the ground, smacking his shins on the edges of the block. Without glancing to his right, Kein pushed himself up and stumbled out into the open field. A moment later, he heard the sound of shattering glass and a gust of frigid wind rushed over him, knocking him to his knees and forcing him to shiver. Over the gale, however, another roar- this one seemingly of pain- echoed through the forest.

Snapping his head to the side, Kein centered his vision on the icy brute. The creature was attempting to brush away some snow that had gotten in its eyes with one paw. Taking the lucky break, he reopened his bag and slid Tom's knife back into the slot it had been kept in before. Upon closing the bag, he glanced down the side of the creature; he caught sight of a piece of jagged ice sticking out of the animal's right shoulder, which was clearly the cause of its discomfort, and was broken out of his thoughts when the monster let out a low growl. The creature,m having removed the annoyances from its eyes and shoulder, was now glaring incredulously at Kein, who stood upright- still dazed- in the middle of the meadow. The distance between the two had drastically decreased, the reptile now only ten meters away.

Sadly, Kein barely got any time to rest, for the lizard almost instantaneously began releasing _more_ spears of ice. With an exasperated huff, Kein lunged back, dodging the icicle with a simple jump. One would think that after all of this fighting, or dodging in Kein's case, the damn thing would have run out of shit to shoot at him! Despite the fact that this creature had already shattered several laws of nature, Kein couldn't help but try to apply logic to this case. A normal reptile has a limited amount of venom to use depending on the size of its venom sac. So the blue bitch had to run out of snow sometime, right?

Unfortunately, Kein's logic was proven flawed when the creature let loose yet another beam of snow. With no objects to hide behind, and not really wanting to use his satchel again, he did the only thing he could do, and started running. Bits and pieces of ice clipped his jacket and pant legs, creating tiny holes and miniature tears in the fabric as he raced over the grass in an attempt to maintain his distance from the blizzard; the ground behind the wave becoming snow-laced as the he continued sprinting up the meadow. Kein dashing carried him in a slow upwards arc that ended on the western side of the field, parallel to the snowed over barbed fence from before.

Throwing away his previous ideas, he decided that the brute clearly must have an unlimited- or nearly unlimited- supply of ice at its disposal, but good God, how!? It had to have used half its own body mass in snow by now! Where the heck is it all coming from? Ice was the super-condensed version of water. All the ice and snow that this thing has used has been coming from its mouth. How does that even work!? Does this thing have some kind of fucking snow machine in its stomach!? The ability to hyper condense that much snow within that short a period of time it practically impossible! Even for _actual_ snow machines! And where the heck was all the water used in making the ice coming from! Yeah, sure it breathes in whenever it used an attack, but what does that even have to do with anything!? One intake of air doesn't nearly have enough water in it to do this!

Though before Kein could contemplate whether or not the creature was _creating_ its own water, the brute launched another spike. Having used the opportunity during the last attack to widen the distance between him and the creature, it was relatively easy to dodge. However, as he was preparing to move, an anomaly presented itself. This spear was _way_ off. Like, _nowhere_ close enough to even remotely cause him trouble. Without so much as taking a step to the right, Kein avoided the javelin; it stabbed into the snow over fence to his left with a sharp _shank_ and _crack_!

Kein, flicked his eyes back over to the animal with one raised eyebrow. This was the _first_ time it was inaccurate with its shots, every other time forcing him to roll or duck in order to keep from getting shish-kabobed. But before Kein could question further, another spear was fired, and was just as imprecise as the previous- but still caused him to shuffle. Kein's confused expression only deepened when the next three ice spears ended the same way, only causing him to move to the right a few meters. As for the fourth spear, he didn't even move, and instead choose to scrunch up the left side of his face, causing his expression to show complete and utter disbelief at the absolute _failure_ that was the last few attacks.

However, his posture changed instantly when the fucker began _machine gunning_ volleys of spikes at him. Admittedly, they were smaller, but there were _loads_ of them. The sort of loads that ended up with people in hospitals. It had also ditched the brilliantly useful idea of missing him in favor of just spamming them at his chest. Kein's eye twitched as the first spear passed by his left shoulder and the second shot around his arm on the same side. Sadly, that was the last of the miscalculations.

 _Thud, thud thud, thud, thud, thud, thud thud thud, thud_!

The sound filled Kein's ears as he was forced to his right by the onslaught of frozen railroad ties. At this point, Kein had foregone dodging in any kind of fashionable way and instead favored running across the field like he had done before, though this time in the opposite direction and through the icy coating over the grass. What he found surprising was that during this entire time, the creature had not once attempted to correct its shots and lead his traveling, so that instead of missing terribly he would just run head first into them.

As if it could read his mind, the blue bastard finally did just that. Kein skid on his heels and fell back on both hands in an attempt to stop his momentum. Luckily, he was successful, as he barely missed a new wave of spikes that were fired on his right. Flipping around and readjusting his course, Kein began to dash to the left. Before he could even travel three meters, another batch of needles were shot to the left, forcing him to re-correct again and jump to the right. Sadly, the only thing he got was _more effing_ spikes. That's when it clicked. This thing was corralling him! Like a cow! Goddamn... underestimation of intelligence!

Sadly, Kein had no time to applaud his adversary, as two larger spears dug themselves into the ground on both sides; they prevented him from jumping to the left or right. Upon being trapped Kein forced his surprised eyes on the creature rather than the ground he was running across. The thing had the most _egotistical_ fucking smile on its face, and Kein could totally see why. He just let his ass get _controlled_ , that was one of the last things he expected from a wild animal. Hell, he knew that some predators worked in packs for the reason of separating prey, but this! This made that look like child's play! Now, the important thing was what was it going to do now that he was stuck?

Kein braced himself in preparation to jump back in case he was about to get shot at. After a couple second of nothing, Kein calmed his muscles. The creature was still in front of him, still glaring at him, but it did nothing. A surreal silence fell over the meadow as Kein and the blue beast held locked gazes. The sound of the wind became amplified and its force seemed to increase ten-fold as it nipped at his ears and bent the snowless covered grass in its wake. The sun shone from behind him, casting his shadow down the field and over the snow, creating a small spot where the sun didn't shine its light down on the ice and removing the normal blinding glint. The one hand that Kein had on the ice spear next to him had become almost entirely numb as it was ignored in favor of the constant concentration of his eyes. As the peace naturally caused by nature returned, Kein found himself lulled into a false sense of security. Whether or not he knew this was unapparent, but clearly, the creature had some thought.

Sucking in a deep breath, the insane creature tilted its head back and let loose an ear-splitting roar. Kein covered his ears and leaned forward heavily; grinding his teeth as the noise reverberated through his body. After a full three seconds of blaring sound, it finally stopped. Almost immediately, Kein shot his eyes up. However, what he saw made him shuffle back.

The eyes of the _thing_ he was fighting before were now _glowing_ crystal fucking _blue_. Kein's mouth went agape and he stood up; he darted his eyes across the beast he began taking steps back- a new dread flowing through his veins. This fear doubled when the creature locked its new neon eyes with his own, causing Kein to lose control over his balance out of fright, and fall over. He could only watch stunned as the lips of his attacker curled back and its wings slowly fanned out; its appearance altogether multiplying in fearsomeness and size, but it didn't stop there. Rearing up on its hind legs, the creature let out a low rumble, its throat once again shaking as the sound came out of its nostrils.

Kein was now entirely _terrified_ of this thing. Sure, he was unnerved by it before, but over time that feeling had dissipated. He had apparently _completely_ underestimated the ability it had to scare the _shit_ out of him. It wasn't necessarily the new stance or the flared wings that scared him, but was rather the _glowing blue eyes_ that it had magically pulled out of its ass that got him freaked out. What did they even mean? Generally, something that glows is powered by something else, whether it be electricity, heat, or light. So if that same idea applied to this! That means this creature is now, what? Powered up? Fuck that! He needed to get the heck out if that meant this thing was _more_ powerful!

However, despite Kein's intentions to book it and run, the now powered-up creature gave him no chance. With one more earth shattering roar, it slammed both its paws to the ground, and a massive three-meter high _shockwave_ of ice appeared out of thin air. As the blast flew across the field everything in its path was hit; the previous spikes of ice that stuck out in the ground quite literally disintegrated upon coming in contact with the wave, the glacial tomb Kein had been ensnared in was consumed by the avalanche, and any snow that was already on the ground only served to add to the rippling flood of sleet. It was an unstoppable onslaught of slush that covered the entire meadow in a three-centimeter-thick layer of sleet.

As the wave neared Kein, his face emptied of blood and he became as white as the snow around him. He knew that nothing could be done; it was practically impossible to even _survive_ something like this anyways. So as a response to his predicament, Kein grabbed his hat off his head, stuffed it into his satchel, and pushed all four of the buttons through their respective holes; he tightened the bag's strap so it was snug around his chest.

Despite the fact that he would be unable to dodge the oncoming surge of snow, Kein knew that he would at least make the impact less… damaging. Kein didn't know _shit_ about surfing. All he really knew was that you lay down on the board, wait for the wave come, and start paddling then, Ta-da! You're 'riding the wave.' He also knew about something called 'body boarding,' which was essentially surfing, but without the board. How was this going to help him? Well, it was either go with the flow, or be consumed by the flow, and in all honesty, Kein didn't really think that he would be able to dive through a glacier.

So with that hastily drawn out plan, Kein spread his arms and fell backward; he landed in the snow beneath him with a small _thud_. This was by far the most unthoughtful solution to a problem he had ever come up with. Sure it had _some_ logic to back it up: He would be lifted up by the snow and carried back with the wave, which is a sound plan; however, the more he thought about it, the more he felt like something was amiss. He was the board. That's right. There was a wave. Okay, that's correct too… But, he wasn't moving with it. As Kein realized the flaw in his plan his muscles seized up and vomit poked at the back of his throat. Unfortunately, he could do nothing, as less than a second later the shockwave of snow hit.

Reaching the crest of the wave, Kein was _slingshotted_ into the air- being launched at least nine meters skywards by the force of the slush. From his heightened elevation Kein could see the flood of snow continue over the grass; hitting the treeline with a backlash of mist. Using the last of his time airborne, Kein shot his eyes to the cause of the nuclear winter. The glowing-eyed bitch was on his haunches and had fallen over onto one forearm, while the rest of its body was held up by its left paw. A small cheer rang through Kein's brain, the thing was _finally_ getting tired! Thank the Lord! However, his celebration was cut short when gravity became an important factor again.

"Shiiiiiiiii- ," Kein began to unconsciously curse to himself as he flailed his arms around in an attempt to stabilize his fall. Luckily for him, he wasn't completely incompetent when it came to the art of falling. Sure, it wasn't something he did all that often, but it turned just up enough for him to develop some skill. Doing his best, Kein flapped his arms around mid-fall, orienting himself into a vertical position with his legs facing downwards. With the last chunk of his airborne time, he loosened his body and slightly pulled his knees in. Meaning when he hit the ground, rather than breaking his neck or snapping both his legs instantly, the force of the landing would be absorbed through the bending and curling of his knees, lessening the impact on any specific spot. Hopefully.

"-iiiiit!" _Thud_ , _crunch_ , _thud_! "Fffffuuuuck!" Kein's eyes shot just as wide as his mouth as he landed hard on the snow. Sadly, his attempts to prevent any major point on his body from getting too badly damaged were in vain. He had successfully landed the roll. Well… maybe roll and a half plus one fuck up. But despite his preparation, he had forgotten to use his hands as guides for the move itself _and_ then tuck them in afterward. Essentially, Kien rolled, couldn't stop himself, continued to roll, then face planted. He still managed to fully complete the duck, but with his arms essentially flailed out to his sides, well... his right elbow was smacked _hard_ into the slush. Luckily, the thin layer of sleet took a small portion of the limbs impact energy, coupling that with his at least successful roll and it fortunately prevented- hopefully- the bone from breaking. Despite this, his entire arm was now numb from the injury. Desperately trying to remove the pain, Kein yanked the sleeve of his jacket back and shoved the inflicted arm into the snow; he used his other hand to shovel more sleet onto the joint.

Kein shoved his forehead into the crook of his arm, allowing the warm tears that now flowed freely from his eyes to splash down onto the snow. God, it hurt so much. He had no idea if his elbow was broken or not. Hell, he didn't even know if it was even damaged or it was just the fact that it was buried in snow that caused his misery. He just wanted the pain to stop, he just wanted to not be _here_ \- fighting for his life against a giant ice breathing monster. What did he do? What apparently horrendous thing did he do in his life that could only be made up by dealing with this!? This was torture! He wasn't even given a choice in the matter! He was just, what! _Teleported_! Fucking teleported! And for what reason!? Was fucking Satan laughing his shorts off at all this!? Was there some unseen entity selling tickets to others so they could watch him get the shit kicked out of him by their pet!? Some sick bastards getting off to his pain! All these ideas of sadism filled Kein with a justified rage, only serving to replace his lost courage.

"No," Kein grunted, tightly forcing his eyes shut; he closed off any tears that attempted to escape. "No, fucking no," he repeated again, this time sticking his left arm out and pushing his torso off the ground. He was _not_ going to die here. If he was going to die, then it was going to be on his _own_ time, in his _own_ home, in his _own_ bed, _after_ Tom stabbed him! Not because of some primal fucking _lizard_ and its _bullshit_ powers! Growling into the sleet, Kein pushed off with this cut left arm and brought a leg up under his chest. With another pained grunt and a sharp breath, he began to stand; his right arm remaining limp in his grasp as he reached his full height. Upon releasing his breath, a scowl that would make Tom proud, set upon his face.

His eyes settled on the blue reptile that was the cause of all his misfortunes. It was still crouched over on its forearm, panting heavily after its undoubtedly immense exertion of energy in the last attack. His brow only furrowed more when the creature let out a stubborn huff and began picking itself up. Kein watched impassively as it stumbled up over itself for a few seconds; he didn't even bother to move back any to improve his chances of dodging the icicles. As the brute raised its head to look at the surrounding meadow, its eyes almost immediately snapped to Kein. His posture didn't soften one bit when the blue fuck's expression abruptly dropped to one of absolute disbelief. In truth, Kein was also surprised that he had been able to survive all that had been thrown at him in the last ten minutes. Though, in reality, his injuries reduced to nothing more than an extended fist-fight's worth of damages... and a nine-meter fall.

However, after a second of hesitation, the lizard's demeanor went from shock to sheer rage. Without missing a beat, Kein re-immersed himself in his pose; one foot directly forward and the other twisted so it was at a 'T' with the first. The creature copied him, but instead of getting defensive, it fanned its wings out and stood up tall. Once again, Kein was unfazed, he had already seen everything this ridiculous beast had to throw at him. He knew all of its attacks. He knew it was more intelligent than it looked. Heck, he even knew its super-fuck-you rage wave. He was ready. _Nothing_ was going to catch him off guard. Kein and the creature held their glares for a few more seconds. Sweat dripped off his brow as the weight of the suspense began to build higher and higher. His hands twitching in anticipation and his legs trembling, ready to jump in any direction.

With a defiant roar the crystal-blue bitch attacked, slamming its left paw to the ground and grinding it in the snow. Despite his still stoic appearance, Kein was completely befuddled by this. The last time this thing used that attack was when it created the fence of ice needles mere minutes before. This is where the confusion sets in. That attack used already existing icicles to make said fence. Clearly, there weren't any spears due to the snow nuke, so why was it doing this? He knew it could control the ice it shot, no matter how much he wanted to deny it; did that mean it can also control snow as well?

As realization struck Kein he snapped his eye down to his feet. _Snow is ice._ For a split second, Kein watched the snow beneath his right shoe quake in the same way the spikes had before. Not needing any confirmation for these actions, Kein twisted his right leg back, arching it back till his heels smacked each other with a small _clack_ , his left arm remaining discreetly placed on the right. No sooner did he do this than did the snow under his feet begin to swirl together and unexpectedly jet up, instantly creating a stalagmite of ice from the sleet around him, leaving a one-meter radius of snow-free ground around the vertical spear.

"Everything has been taken back," Kein muttered, his face blanching. All the resolve he had gathered over the past minute instantly shattered as he stared deeply into the pin-point tip that had been milliseconds away from removing his groin, again. If this had been a game show, and each attack was a different challenge the contestant had to endure, Kein would have gone through: _Pins and Needles_ , _How Long can you Stand the Arctic_ , _Are you the Next Houdini_ , _Country Western Corralling_ , and _Can you Survive the H-Bomb_. Now, he was on _Shish-Kabobing for Bodies_.

Swallowing his pooling saliva, Kein turned to face the cerulean creature. Its fluffed up wings had been replaced with a somewhat more lean and sleek appearance; it having stretched them down the sides of its body. The monster's muzzle was still peeled back into a menacing and audible snarl that caused its throat to visibly vibrate. Its left claws were still buried in the snow, and had once again been encased in ice, but were also surrounded in the same blue mist.

Keins colors faded again as he recalled the last time in which it 'assumed direct control' of the ice spears, though this time he was a lot closer. Less than a second later his un-thought-of prediction came true. Having already foreshadowed the event, he was easily able to jolt his head to the right just as a singular, smaller spike jutted out from the stalagmite adjacent to him.

As Kein peered through the clear ice the stick was comprised of, the distorted image of his assailant became apparent. He considered mocking it again, because in all honesty, it's not like that turned out badly for him the last time. But all thoughts of ridiculous and derogatory gestures were erased when the creature's other paw slammed into the snow, being covered in ice almost instantly. As predicted, the icicle alongside to him began to reverberate. Kein's countenance displayed a reaction of shock- terror sweeping over his body- as the demonic shard of ice, having _exploded_ with smaller needles of crystal, sucked up more snow. Effectively creating a stationary vertical rolling log trap- forcing him to fall on his ass to prevent being turned into a pincushion.

Not wasting any of his precious time, Kein shoved off the frozen ground with his legs; he used his functional arm as a pivot while his shanks whipped around his body, allowing him to spin up into a standing position, though facing the wrong direction. Spinning around awkwardly, Kein centered his eyesight on the grounded winged beast. It was snarling, still, and was locked in its own ice, still, meaning, more physics breaking stalagmites.

Kein could see two sides to his current situation. There was the bad side. Which told him that he was completely fucked and that sooner or later he was going to get ran through with a javelin of frozen water or be flash-frozen into a Keincicle, not very pleasing thoughts. Then, there was the good side. All in all, it didn't comprise of that many positive ideas. Though the most prominent one being that fact that it was trapped in its own ice, allowing him a chance of escape, as long as he didn't get speared in the process.

Once again, Kein was knocked out of his musing when the creature let out a cacophonous growl; it lowered its crouched posture until its forelegs bent at ninety-degree angles. Even though Kein lacked any academic knowledge about this creature, he was pretty sure that this meant it was going to start attacking, and glancing down at his feet just confirmed his suspicions. A perfectly visible ring of clear ground had already formed around his feet and was twisting into another stalagmite. At the sight of this Kein immediately started to fall backward- tucking his right arm against his chest for safe-keeping. Not as much out of surprise as an attempt to escape his entrapment, he jumped, essentially launching himself at an angle in which he would land clear outside of the ring and be able to somersault back onto his feet. Luckily for him, he was able to complete his roll, though not before getting nicked in the nose by the resulting needles that shot out from the base.

With a small yelp, Kein brought his left hand up to his face, tapping it against the tip of his nose. Without a doubt, he was bleeding, though not too profusely. It was like a puncture wound, made by a cat, directly on his right nostril. Kein didn't know whether or not it went all the way through, but he didn't really care at the moment; the small sting wasn't worth his life. So with hesitation aside, Kein got up from his crouched stance and shot his eyes to the tree line behind him. If he could get within their dense trunks, there was _no way_ that the blue devil would be able to follow him. Sadly, he was still about twenty if not more meters away from that destination, and to make it even harder, his body still ached from the torrent of ice. Thinking no more on his problems or surroundings, Kein fully turned and lurched forwards with a single stride.

"Fuck!" He screamed the instant his foot hit the ground within a grass ring. Not even a second later he was forced to dive to the right as another spear of death erupted from the ground, catching one of his belt loops and tearing its top stitch like taffy. Barreling over for a bit, Kein abruptly stopped his movement with his pained arm, letting himself stare into the snow for a second. He immediately let out a sharp yelp and his right arm crumbled out from under his weight; the snow underneath him turning maroon as he planted his face into it. In his panic, he had forgotten it was damaged and now he was paying for it. Sadly, this short respite cut off when the slush beneath his palm began to circle inwards.

Taking only the time to gasp, Kein spun his body to the right, attempting to ignore the pain as he flopped away just enough so that the coat pocket on that side got caught by the tip and instantly torn. Landing on his stomach, he didn't even stop for sentiment, and instead choose to push up into a sprinter's position and dart off. Despite his failure on the first attempt, Kein turned towards the tree line. This time, he was completely expecting the brute to predict his movements and try to cut him off. Which, he was wholeheartedly right about, since no more than a moment later did another ring appear in front of him. Even though it took the stalagmites less than a second to form, Kein was expecting it like one would expect the sun to rise. Without losing momentum, he planted his left foot on the right side of his body, crossing his legs awkwardly.

The last time he tried this all he ended up accomplishing was a near faceplant. Now that he was used to the extra agility granted to him by constant adrenaline, it was easier for him to achieve the feat of dexterity. This mid-step change caused him to dash directly around the still visible ring, and mere ticks later he was rewarded by a clearly audible _shank_ and _crack_ as the stick of water erupted out of the ground next to him; the smaller spikes growing out with such suddenness that patches of them detached from the spear and flew past his face.

Though this wasn't the last of it. No sooner did he evade the first spike did yet _another_ ring of foliage appear in his path. Once again Kein diverged his route, though this time he choose not to cut it close, rather, he continued towards it. At this rate, if he had gone any farther the timing of the stalagmite would have been impeccable, and he would have been impaled. Once he got within less than two meter's distance between him and the ring Kein whipped his body sideways onto his left knee and skid the rest of the distance; he barely managed to stop himself so that that his right shoe grazed the grass. With his form twisted to the left, it allowed him to immediately recover make a right angle turn, completely changing his direction with a snap of his ankles.

Though it was technically still a close call, he felt much more comfortable using that specific method; it had a decreased chance of failure. But Kein did not brood on this fact for long. With the completion of the last dodge, he found himself sprinting towards the eastern side of the field. Sadly for him, the tree line was _much_ further away compared to the southern side, which was the original direction he chose. Abruptly, he was shook out of his millisecond musing when his newly trained eyes spotted another grass loop ahead of him. Strangely enough, it was off center- not enough so it wouldn't hit him, but just the right amount to make feigning to the right a bad idea.

So once again, Kein skid to a halt, but didn't fall to the ground. Instead favoring a simple sideways leap to change directions. As his head flicked around with the rest of his body, Kein discovered that he was charging directly at the two toned blue freak; he found it to still be trapped in its own ice. And as Kein neared it, one thing became apparent: it's eyes were closed. Luckily for him, his brain was running just as fast- if not faster- than his body, giving him ample time to flip his shit at this new development.

 _Closed!? How the hell can it see me then!_ Kein mentally screamed as his right foot touched the ground. _Also, how can it accurately place these stalagmites!_ Unfortunately, once his left foot landed a possible answer swept through his mind in a wave of 'noes' and 'Goddamnit.' _Can it sense me through the ice!?_

As much as Kein wanted to call bullshit, he knew that it was the only... logical, explanation, if you could even call it that. It would explain how the creature was able to accurately position the vertical spikes; due to its rather low crouch not providing very good depth perception. It would also explain the _closed eyes_ and the reason it was encased in its own substance: for concentration and control, respectively. On another note, Kein now realized why the wave of ice was a necessary thing to do; it allowed the creature to then create these pointed water jutts anywhere in the field.

Suddenly, a thought clicked. Up to this point, the icicles had only appeared in places where there was snow. So it would only make sense to say that if there was no snow, there was no death spikes, or at least until the bitch came and made more sleet. Despite how useless this information seemed, it gave Kein the ability to formulate another quick plan. Sadly, he was unable to immediately execute it due to another patch of green that caught his eye.

Without taking another step Kein swung his left arm in an arc- bringing it across his vision like a hook to the face. However, even though it seemed like he was just punching air, the action had another effect. Without a solid object for the momentum created to disperse into, Kein was carried clockwise by his own swing- essentially carrying his body around and allowing him to make an one eighty. Before his face could smack the ground again, Kein stuck his left palm out- catching himself with a single arm and stopping his horizontal and vertical movement. Now in an improvised sprinter's crouch, Kein dug his heels into the ground and pushed off. His direction effectively flipping around within the single second.

To say Kein was feeling smug at the moment would have been an understatement. He had just successfully pulled off one of the hardest maneuvers in his book- having only performed it one other time at a mini golf course... memories. But his victory was short-lived, even though he had accomplished his initial goal of turning back to the southern side of the clearing, that didn't stop the brute from continuing his assault. Unfortunately, when Kein noticed the next batch of floor spikes his face went pale. The bastard had apparently had enough of Kein's shit, and was just flat out creating a wall of stalagmites- indicated by the long _rectangle_ of grass rather than the usual ring. If this wall reacted the same way the icicles did, then he was essentially running into a spiked wall trap. This also meant that the creature would be able to predict where he was going to stop and prepare a spike for him there. Either way, it was a lose from him. However, Kein had a trump card, and he was planning on playing it.

Remembering his previous idea, Kein once again tucked his arms in and fell to the ground. For this to work, he needed to not only remove the snow from the area around him, but also not touch any. So in response, Kein became a snow plow. Clicking his heels together into a line, Kein essentially used his momentum as a slip n' slide; the bottom of his feet cutting through the snow and causing it to pile up in front of him as he slid across the ground, all while his legs and back sat safely on the cold grass. Coming to a screeching halt, Kein wasted no time in pushing off the berm slightly and lifting his satchel off the remaining snow and onto his chest. Within the second, Kein had made himself a section of earth that was devoid of all snow- a safe haven from the stalagmites of frozen vapor, or that's what he hoped.

 _Please work, please work, please, please,_ Kein begged as the sound of the wall forming in front of him became apparent. Sweat began to pour down his brow as the quite literally awaited his redemption. Each second lasted longer than the previous, and as the time went on the sound of his own heart magnified with each thump. After a full five agonizing seconds of waiting, Kein let his muscles relax, only to have him seize up again when an all too similar sound rang in his ears.

Jerking his upper body forward, Kein barely allowed a spear to impale the ground behind him; his back getting grazed just enough to add a small, shallow cut along his lower back to his collection. Whipping his head around, Kein saw his assailant through the pure ice. Though the vision was distorted, he could at least make out a few things. First of all, it had abandoned its attempt to stab from the ground and instead resorted to shooting at him again. Kein didn't know which was more deadly to him. Sure, they were both dangerous, but the whole idea of calculating the puncturing capacity of a flying spike versus a 'spring-loaded' one wasn't appealing at the moment. So instead, this thoughts equated to this: he had gotten more injuries from the flying spears than the stalagmites, though the ground spikes were harder to spot, making them more hypothetically deadly. Simple.

The beast had also gotten up from its crouched position, not only supporting the fact that it was now in spear mode and telling Kein that its eyes were open- that obviously being the reason it was able to accurately sling the most recent bolt. Lastly, he could tell that its maw was open, and since it had yet to release the attack yet, that meant it could only be one thing.

Wasting not a single second, Kein bolted up just as the blizzard burst from its mug. It was at this point in time in which he greatly thanked his past self for safely storing his cap in his bag, otherwise the gale-force winds created by the brute would have carried it off. But this was not the only thing on Kein's mind. He did not forget what happened last time he used an ice spike as a shield, and to confirm his suspicions, the same sideways icicles started to form on the edges of his shield. Without any thought, Kein used his left elbow and slammed it into the still forming ice- the impact vibration rattling his entire body. This action did have the desired effect, as just after sharp smack the prison-building shards of ice shattered and fell to the ground. Within the next second he repeated the process on the other side, though rather than using his injured arm, he chose to shoulder it.

Soon afterward the snow beam ended and Kein found himself panting under a small outcrop of frost. He had successfully prevented himself from being trapped again, as well as gave himself a small amount of protection against the next attack. Steeling his nerves, Kein sucked in a deep breath of chilled air, which only caused him to shiver uncontrollably within his fort of ice. Despite his rather bleak looking condition, Kein new there was a good side to this. At least he knew how to combat _that_ specific attack as well as the stalagmites. The other ones? Not so much. Though he was certain that the latter was going to be the most taxing to avoid. Because in all honestly, what else could possibly be as worse than sudden and unexpected genital removal?

Hesitantly, Kein looked up to the tree line, only to find it still blocked by the wall of ice from seconds before. He was maybe five meters away from it and the wall itself was no more than two meters tall and at least seven meters wide. To make his scenario worse, the wall was _covered_ in the same deadly needles as the rest of the stalagmites. Kein's hopes fell when he realized that in order to reach safety he'd have to go around the wall; not only having to run almost twice the original distance, but also giving the fucking ice-spitting bitch more than enough time to screw him over. However, there was a positive side to this. If he _did_ make it to the other side of the wall, then the creature would have to resort to the stalagmites to hit him, though by the time it had a chance, he'd be gone.

Kein weighed his options. He could wait here and see what the creature would throw at him next. Most likely it would send a spear through the barrier and kill him that way, or it would charge the makeshift fort and demolish. In both cases forcing him to start dodging and or fight back. If Kein chose to run, there was a chance that he'd be able to survive the twelve meters to the edge of the wall and seek safety behind it until making to the forest. But in that case he'd have to _not stop running_ , if he did for even a moment, that would greatly decrease his chances of survival. It honestly boiled down to two things: how much longer could he survive, and what choice did he really have?

Gathering his resolve, Kein pushed himself up off the ice. In the mere seconds in which he was thinking, a small pool of saliva had formed in his mouth; he promptly swallowed and followed up with a shaky breath. He did _not_ want to do this. It was literally possibly die or _maybe_ die! Even then, the maybe die- assuming that was the better of the two- was pretty much guaranteed! But once again, what choice did he have! Despite his attempts to calm his quaking, Kein couldn't help but focus the entirety of his attention on the massive pit in his stomach. It was like when one is on the topmost board of the high-dive getting ready to jump into the water. From below, it looks small and insignificant. But at the top, you realize it seems _much_ higher and more dangerous. That was his situation. In truth, he could easily dodge anything that was slung at him. But in another truth, the fear of death was more powerful than his confidence! Exhaling in the same trembling manner, Kein began to rock his body; attempting to give himself that final push to move.

 _Just like jumping!_ he told himself. _It's the same system. Jump. Fall. Hope you didn't fuck up! And land in the water!_ However, regardless of his self-encouragement, Kein remained motionless. His grip on the walls around him intensified over the next few seconds as his anxiety for what was to come doubled.

"Fuck!" Kein yelled to himself. His panicked rocking had magnified until he was practically jumping back and forth in his cove of ice. Instead of holding the walls, he was now clutching two broken off shards of ice in a vice-like grips- completely ignoring the deep chill they brought.

"Okay, okay… right. Three seconds. Three seconds then go, Kein," prompting himself once again. As he prepared for the inevitable countdown, his swaying became methodic rather than sporadic and his breathing steadied; he matched the movement in time.

"One." His eyes gazed over the wall of ice. It hadn't changed in the slightest. Needle point tips, half a meter long stalks, the ability to numb any part of your body. Yup, all still there.

"Two." Next his vision shot over to his destination. He was planning on running left, seeing as that was the area with the most stalagmites. So at least he'd have some cover.

"Three." With the last number came the end of his preparation. Kein stuck his hands out and grabbed the edges of the curved wall. Extended his arms to their full length he pulled his muscles taut; he stepped back once more in order to get the most of the tension to come. This was it. His hopefully not final chance at life.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Okay, look. I have no idea what you're thinking, but I bet it's somewhat along the lines of 'You said you were going to post this on Wednesday!' And you would be completely right! Unless... Sunday is actually Wednesday, and everyone's been lying this whole time…**

 **Krathnic: Wednesday is named after the Norse god Woden, you may know him as Odin. Sunday is named after the other Norse god Sol...**

 **I Woden even ask…**

 **…**

 **Wow… what did this turn into? Making shitty play-on-words and internal rhymes. God, I hope this ends here, I don't think I could continue with the Author's Notes if this became a common thing.**

 **Okay, another few things you may have noticed:**

 **One, Aetheo is gone… He found a good- by his standards- webcomic and got distracted.**

 **Two, the writing style… if you would, in this chapter may have changed a bit. Not that I'm now a different person! No! That's just stupid, shame on you for thinking that. It's actually because Krath here is a very articulate person, and he loves his words.**

 **Krathnic: I'm quite eloquent, but not an African elephant.**

 **And his rhymes. So if you guys think that the tone of the scene is changing a bit due to the sudden influx of overly unused words… well, I guess that's a problem now. I try to keep the writing appropriate to the setting- like if it's a battle scene, less impressive words, you don't have time for that shit. Unless you're fighting a gentlemen knight, in which case, anything is up for grabs.**

 **Krathnic: I have kept refrained, mostly fixing the fifty or so semicolons—but make no mistakes, an auspicious, apological, anatomical, ambient, altruistic, accumulative, atrocious, aquarius, Arabian anaconda** **-** **ian asshole alliterates appreciatively when accessed by an asexual author's apathetic addendum** **—** **albeit with less momentum.**

 **God… damnit? What? Okay. That took a lot...**

 **Note found pinned to Aetheo's Dead Body: "If I'm not alive when you find me, it's because I found a webcomic and my temporary puppet-animation spell has failed. Keep the body refrigerated and I should have my soul return within a few days.**

 **Thanks,**

 **Aetheo"**

 **Ssethelis: That guy has a soul? Never would'a figured.**

 **Who even found that? He died like… halfway through editing! He should have been buried!**

 **…**

 **What the fuck happened!? Fuckin'! Prepare yourselves! This is what it's going to be like… Every… Fucking… Time… From now-**

 ***Static***


	7. Three Toes Per Foot

**A/N:**

 **Krathnic: GOOD DAY!**

 **Oh, my holy God! This is it! Last chapter of the fight between the random test subject and frost fucker! As Sseth has so eloquently come to call him.**

 **Krathnic: We are all about eloquence.**

 **Indeed…**

 **Krathnic: Indeed. *Chuckles until monocle falls off.**

 **Right… Well, I'm going to put this out right now. I went back and looked at chapter one. No… I'm not remastering, that shit's just stupid. I did, however, find a few spelling mistakes.**

 **Krathnic: You really like the word 'however' don't you?**

 **I do, because there's always two sides to every setting… That, and I am a however-slut… But you and Nate- who couldn't join us because he's lazy- are bending me off that… Heh.**

 **Krathnic: Well I'm just glad I wasn't here for the first few chapters. I've heard they were fun.**

 **Okay god fuc- Nate I swear. Yes! I did use it a lot! And yes! As I go back and look over them** _ **properly**_ **, tomorrow I will remove a lot of them. But don't go back and reread, nothing major will change.**

 **Krathnic: We wouldn't want a major retcon now would we? Huh? No?**

 **Nothing of the sort has happened… Why would you even consider that?**

 **Krathnic: That's just what he wants you to think...**

 **FF does allow you to go back and change stuff in a chapter then sneakily repost it. But none of you knew that I actively pay attention… until now. I don't know why I can't pay attention before I post… I guess it's like arguments: You always come up with better points afterward.**

 **Okay, well enough of this. Disclaimer Time!**

 _ **D**_ **on't even ask why I need to keep doing this.** _ **I**_ **actually like to.** _ **S**_ **eeing as it gives me a chance to make something new each time.** _ **C**_ **ause' that's fun.** _ **L**_ **uckily, I don't see myself running out of ideas soon.** _ **A**_ **nyhow, I'm just going to say. I don't own anything, save for my OC's…** _ **M**_ **aybe if I really, really,** _ **really**_ **tried, and got into the business of buying and selling companies my ideas could go through.** _ **E**_ **ventually...** _ **R**_ **ight now though, no…**

 **Disclaimer everyone.**

 **Krathnic: DISCLAIM! DISCLAIM! DISCLAIM!**

 **But remember:**

 **Sooner or later there will no such thing as fantasy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Three Toes Per Foot**

"Go?" Just as the word left Kein's mouth a small, glowing, crystal-blue ball appeared at the top of his vision and sailed over his head, its journey taking it over the spike wall to his front. Kein could only blink in wonder before a thundering _thud_ came from the other side of the wall, causing him to recoil in fright despite having seen it fly over. Before he could contemplate the purpose of the sudden 'attack,' the area where the orb had landed began to flare up with light, casting an eerie blue light through the wall which splashed across his face. Kein already had a faint clue as to what was happening, and to bolster his worries even more, the sound of a vacuum filled his ears.

Kein barely had time to balk before the glacial wall in front of him suddenly shattered, and the bits and pieces of ice flew away from him in chunks roughly the size of his chest, only to reveal the most illogical pile of crap he had yet to see. He could only stare awestruck at the singularity that had been formed a mere six meters away from him. All the frozen matter from and around the wall had been sucked into one conglomeration of frost and shards- swirling around in a hurricane of razor wire and frostbite.

As the gravity of the situation became glaringly apparent, Kein did the only logical thing he could do: he covered his face with his forearms. However, this acted as more of an adverse effect than what he had in mind. While the suction itself may not have been directly pulling at _him,_ the snow attached to his clothing was enough to provide a hefty tug, as evident by the multiple patches of cloth that was void of snow and remained unaffected. The resulting drag was enough to force Kein to change his stance, putting most of his weight on his back leg in order to keep from toppling into the tempest.

Though the worst had yet to come, as less than a second later the accumulation of ice abruptly _stopped_. The vacuum and the swirling just… _stopped_. Each little flake of snow, every small section of ice, any liquid that may have been trapped just _froze_. At first, Kein was relieved, thinking that the creature had misinterpreted his location and sent _that_ over the wall in the hopes of eviscerating him. But much to his surprise, the blizzard began to hum. Not the same low-pitched drum of pure suction like before, but more of a 'vibrating glass' sound.

Before any action on his part could be taken, the droning of the ice shards intensified to a frequency in which only an ear-splitting sound could be heard. For the second time that day Kein covered his ears. Okay, maybe it was not just trying to dismember him, but also blow his eardrums out with the alarming pitch of the particles oscillating around him! Even though the screech of the ice was akin to the roar the creature had loosed before, Kein remained standing; his eyes locked on the virtually time-stopped snowstorm that could be seen from the space between his arms. Just as he thought it couldn't get worse, the sphere of frost started to rapidly enlarge causing…

 _SHUUP!_

 _Shit._

 _BOOSH!_

As the situation registered in Kein's mind, he sat awestruck- watching as a blinding flash of light exploded from the center of the ice cloud. The blast launching forward at incalculable speeds, followed by a bone-chilling wave of sleet and deadly needles of water. Whether it was quick reaction time or sheer dumb luck, he managed to shoot his arms back to their face-covering position before the detonation of snow hit, keeping his eyes safe from the high-velocity shards of ice. However, that didn't stop the force of the impact from knocking Kein off his feet and slamming his already aching body into the ice wall behind him; his arms spread out and locking against the wall. Once he could no longer travel with the wave, the razor-like flakes of ice came up next and cut the front of his t-shirt to ribbons- slashing the soft flesh underneath, but luckily leaving only insignificant lacerations.

But as a wise man once said, 'Things can always get worse.' And he definitely wasn't wrong. Mere moments after the ice knives had done their dirty work, the explosion of slush caught up. Gravity had yet to even detach Kein from the chilled coffin before the front of his body was unceremoniously coated in a thick layering of half-frozen water; the force effectively knocking the wind out of his lungs. His clothing became instantly soaked with the freezing slush as it washed over his entire frame and around his makeshift fort; it whipped about in the confined space like a whirlpool of winter. But as though he was cursed, Kein's misery did not end. Seemingly having been decided that he had not suffered enough- the liquid he was drenched in began to crystallize, expanding within his own clothing and spreading up and over his face. Trapping him in less than a second inside a perfectly snug cryo-chamber of glass-like water that stuck to the side of the wall.

 _The FUCK!_ Kein screamed mentally as his nose was covered in ice. Sucking his stomach in an attempt to separate it from his arctic cold clothing, he tried- but failed- to move any other part of his body. So much for running! The effing thing must have heard him while he was preparing to 'escape.' Look how that went! Kein began to curse himself out for being such a hesitant bitch, if he had just _went_ instead of freaking out, he'd be gone by now! Safe from the icy clutches of this _goddamn fucking prick_! As Kein brooded on the thought his rage began to rise. He started to struggle with more intensity, flexing his muscles in any and every way he could in an attempt to weaken the frozen casing. Kein didn't even bother to ponder on what this attack was meant to accomplish because it was fairly clear. Just like last time... fucking Lawyer.

Within a few seconds, his exertion caused the casing around his legs to crack- that area being the strongest in his body. Sadly, he could already feel the burn from the lack of oxygen and the headache that ensued. Jostling his legs a few more times, he began to purposely smash his knees against the ice; the pain from the action luckily being dulled by the surrounding frost. Kein groaned as the not-surprisingly warmer air abruptly flooded into the frozen clothing mold from the small crack he had made with his left knee. Once the small openings were made, cracking the rest of the shell was a cinch, and with a few more good muscle flexes, the ice broke enough to allow movement. Out of either sheer joy or simply to test his motion, Kein started to toss his free left leg around in front of him- any last bits of stiffness that the ice inflicted being removed with the action.

Sadly, his open-field movement test came to an unpleasant end when the ground shook heavily. From the outside perspective, Kein's face was already pale, due to the ice. Yet, from this sound, his head might as well have drained of all contents. With no regard for his own safety, Kein flailed his entire body around within the covering- using his free leg to bash the ice covering its brother. In less than half the time it took the first, his other leg was freed. Though, instead of giving it a victory wiggle, he immediately tightened his thighs- throwing his legs upwards and smashing his knees on the ice that covered his chest. With that single thrust the ice around the body cracked, but didn't break.

In the time it had taken him to crack the stomach ice, the shaking of the ground turned into heavy footfalls. Wasting not a moment, Kein repeated the process- launching his knees up. To his relief, the ice covering his chest shattered, freeing up his abdominal muscles, which he put to use in the instant. With the incredible skill and flexibility of a gymnast, Kein pulled his lower body up until his feet were parallel to his frozen arms and he was peering into the crack of his pant legs. Needing to fulfill his body's requirement for air, Kein thrust his knees downwards, and for the fourth time within the moment, shattered a chunk of the ice that coated his body. Completely ignoring the fact that he had just successfully smacked himself in the nose, Kein gasped for oxygen- the important gas filling his lungs just as lightheadedness was about to take over. Despite the fact that he had just recovered from near suffocation- for the second time that day- he wasted little time in continuing to release himself.

Switching his attention to his feet, Kein began to wriggle his toes; he made sure that each digit was free of any bindings before he used them, not wanting to break them and all. He inhaled deeply and quickly cranked one foot forward, proceeding to bring it sailing back and thrust it onto the ice that encased his right arm. With a satisfying _crack_ the ice broke, and with one swift pull of the shoulder, Kein freed his arm from the wall. No longer needing their services, he let his feet fall limply underneath him. Disregarding the strain put on his left shoulder, Kein bent his available arm across his body and grasped his still frozen left arm- causing his elbow to become inflamed in pain. After achieving a secure grip around the wrist, he yanked at the limb with all his might. Sadly, the ice only creaked softly and very few splinters fell to the ground.

He was a mere arm away from escape but it felt so far. His clothing was still dotted with pieces of ice, which chilled parts of his body when they touched his skin. All the cuts and bruises that he had collected over the past twenty minutes had become agitated by the tiny, pointed shards despite his numbness. And on top of that, his satchel was frozen over- _again_. But to make matters worse, the footfalls of the creature were closer than ever- signaling to him that shit was about to get real. The thought of more action and the big-ass bitch only inspired him to free himself faster, and with this newfound strength, Kein grasped the frozen arm. Propping his feet up against the ice, he released his breath with a mighty grunt- ripping the frozen arm off of the wall and allowing gravity to do its thing.

Unfortunately for Kein, he was only able to fall a few centimeters before the ice behind him shattered, and a paw the size of a truck tire swooped in from the side and backhanded him across the field. He sailed through the air towards the western side of the meadow, losing any control over his movements and area of impact. Within the second, Kein landed hard on his left shoulder- trapping the respective arm underneath his body and twisting it an unnatural way, causing the joint to abruptly dislocate with a sickening _pop_. Before his face could distort into an expression of pure pain and agony, he flipped. The momentum from getting bitch slapped continuing to carry him across the ground and eventually onto his left side again. He had yet to even register the feeling before his arm was snapped back into place, and luckily for him, it was the last rotation in his journey.

Kein was in the snow for hardly a moment before the white-hot sting of temporary joint dislocation set in. Despite the fact that his right arm was still aching from his nine meter fall, his muscles involuntarily reached over and grasped the affected shoulder. His mouth already in a grimace of shocked suffering and misery as his right elbow suddenly lit up- adding its own attention-demanding fire to the mix. Ignoring the cold, Kein rolled onto his stomach and allowed the chill from the ice to numb his belly and the small cuts that littered its surface. And so Kein- with his face now buried in the snow- let loose the first curse he had uttered in the last ten seconds.

"FUUUUUCK!"

As if succumbing to self-destructive tendencies, Kein began to bash his head into the ground. Parts of him telling the others that if he knocked himself out, the pain would end. The only thing this achieved was giving him a minor headache, adding even more discomfort to his already terrible situation. The two most severe injuries Kein had acquired continued to burn his nerves more and more as the cold winds washed over him. This had gone way past a fist fight, as if it was even equivalent to that in the first place! Everything was just fine up until that _thing_ used the snow tsunami. Once again, 'fine,' being a relative term, but still! At least he was still in one piece: a dislocated, maybe fractured, possibly concussioned, cut-covered, cat-bitten piece!

Kein didn't even want to know how bad his ailments would feel if there was no epinephrine flowing through his system. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last time he'd have to call upon his own endrogenous ibuprofen. No more than ten seconds after his unimpressive tumbleweed dance, the soft _thud_ of feet met his ears. Kein's mouth abruptly closed and the sound of his labored breathing intensified as the air funneled through his nostrils. Back for more, eh? Well, fuck! He wasn't exactly in a position to make any fancy dodges at the moment! In fact, Kein didn't even know if he could get up! But, much to his displeasure, his move-or-die situation only became more and more prominent as the seconds passed.

Eventually, Kein became conscious enough to realize his desperate position. Closing his eyes and pushing up off the ground with his head, he managed to create enough of a distance between the grass and himself to slide one knee under and then the other. Continuing to hold both his arms tightly, Kein threw himself up with the thrust of a leg, causing himself to stumble from the extra force created by the action and the unbalance in weight from his satchel. Allowing his jaw to fall open again, Kein lethargically turned his head to the left- his eyes attempting to adjust after their sudden two-meter ascension. Once his tunnel vision vanished, Kein was met with an eyeful of deep blue. It took him moments to come to a realization, and as if the blue bastard could sense it, a single forepaw came flying down from Kein's back flank.

Luckily, Kein had already begun to react. Despite his discombobulated state, years of practice overrode minutes of injury. With the same somersault as used before, he managed to roll just underneath the creature's right paw as it hit smack dab in the center of his previous standing area. With a fresh wave of adrenaline flowing through his body, Kein dropped both his arms to their respective sides and shot his gaze up to the brute that was now a mere three meters away from him. The distance was still fairly long, but when you have a six-meter long body, nothing is out of your reach! His short time of peace was interrupted when the same paw from before continued its motion. As the muscles in the animal's forearm bulged, the tension from its last attack increased, and the paw was sent back in the direction from which it had come.

In spite of his wounds, Kein flew around the punch like he were a leaf in the wind. Bending backward at the waist as the forearm sailed over his head, then twisting around so he was falling into the snow. But this was all according to plan, if pure reaction could be considered a one. Landing on one knee, Kein bent his head around just enough so that he could still see the paw above his head as well as the right one that had yet to make a move. Less than a second later, Kein was rewarded for his cautiousness. Instead of using the same forearm to attempt to strike him, the creature used the momentum from the last swing to propel the next. Already in the stance required to easily dodge such a move, Kein barrel-rolled to his right, coming to a stop just in time to see the right hook hit the patch of snow where he just was.

As Kein's mind took milliseconds to examine the previous swing, a few things made themselves apparent. The most prominent and possibly the most relieving being why it chose to attack him at close range _now_. It could have impaled him at any time over the course of the many seconds in which he was lying motionless on the ground. If it really wanted to, it could have just ran over and stepped on him! All negativity out of the way, another answer to this question could be that it _finally_ ran out of ice! That, or it decided that this was the better method for killing him. But Kein chose to believe that the first was true, trying to stay optimistic despite the continuous process of running for his life. In which case. Hell! YES! It's about fucking time! Now, at least, Kein could start making his way into the treeline without fear of being stabbed in the back!

Sadly, this was not the only thing that came to mind. While it would now be easier to make it to the trees, that didn't mean it wouldn't be a problem. From what Kein had just seen in the last few attacks, this thing was used to fighting enemies which are human-sized. Luckily, it seemed that nothing so far was as fast as himself, as the creature was failing to adjust its punches in time to hit him. That, however, didn't remove the fact that his assailant had indeed fought before, and from the looks of it, it wasn't just some hunting tricks. This was full blown hand-to-eh… paw, combat maneuvers, such as using previously generated momentum to enhance its attacks. Like the way it was pivoting its body in order to slam him with its tail.

As the rod of blue became the only thing Kein could see, his posture broke. Rather than attempting to dodge the thick, ridge-covered appendage, Kein went along with the instincts he had spent so long training out of, and thrust his arms out in front of him. In his panic, he misjudged where the mass of flesh would hit. Instead of nullifying _some_ of the force, he was hit straight in the gut. From just the force of the impact, Kein's arms involuntarily wrapped themselves around the log-like limb; the wind being knocked out of him as he was thrown across the field like a doll in the hands of a four-year-old child, whose petty anger broke out into full blown disgust and dissatisfaction. Fortunately, he was hit near the base of the creature's tail, causing the force behind the attack to be substantially less than if he was at the very tip- where, rather than getting tossed, he would have been sliced in half like a roll of Pillsbury dough.

At least Kein had enough competence to tuck in his arms mid-flight as to not dislocate them _again_ , though that didn't make the landing any easier. As if reenacting the descent from minutes before, Kein once again began to flip backward over his own head, spinning multiple times before coming to a flat skid on his back in the middle of the meadow. His face scrunched up and his eyes crossed as his diaphragm finally reacted to the immense pressure that had been applied to it. A wheeze escaped his throat and a wave of nausea washed over him when the lingering effect of the hit made its way to his head. With sudden recollection- mainly in the form of blurred vision- Kein took in a sharp breath, barely managing to fill half his lungs. Within the next moment, he inhaled again, this time more steady. But, nonetheless, forced.

Unfortunately for him, the luxury of lying down was torn away once again by the creature's hurried movement; the beast certainly wasn't taking its sweet time reaching him. A Richter scale one earthquake practically originated from the beast as it barreled its way towards the downed twenty-year-old. Kein's immediate intention was to sit up and the judge distance, but he couldn't. His stomach had yet to even remotely recover from the full-body boxer punch it had just received, causing him to double over before he could glance at this attacker. At least his belly's snit put him into a position from which he could run away. As Kein pulled his legs inwards in preparation, the previous thuds of movement vanished. His eyes went wide with a sudden awareness, and rather than sprinting off, Kein threw himself to one side. An instant after his unforetold self-launching, a ground-shattering _thud_ boomed from his left side- chunks of dirt, grass, and snow peppering his side with silt and crushed blades.

Kein jerked his head to the right, only for his vision to be- once again- filled with the same picton hide as before. But through all his intense panic, one thing struck him as exceptionally odd. Rather than gazing upon the left leg of the attacking creature, he was looking at its right. Considering his circumstance, he passed it off as unimportant and recovered his previous stance from before, but only ended up regretting his decision. As he readied his second attempt, a mass the size of his entire torso wrapped around him from the left and three hard, barbed claws found their place under his right arm.

Before any reaction could occur, Kein was lifted up into the air and thrown across the field towards its southernmost side. He couldn't find the words to describe the intense pain caused by the ungodly rug-burn that the grass had slapped upon his cheek and lower abdomen. Slowly bringing his head from the ground, Kein stared unblinking as clumps of roots fell from atop his hair and landed soundlessly in front of him. Thoughtlessly, he began the process of picking himself up- his mind disregarding his body's screams of agony and discomfort. Despite his inability to properly fathom his ailments, that didn't stop the injuries from taking effect on his frame. Without warning, Kein's afflicted elbow failed and fell, his body followed soon after- causing him to flip onto his back in the respective direction.

Even though Kein was experiencing pain in proportions that he had never felt before, his overactive brain kept on going; its current thought being: Why? Why did it not just kill him? It had wrapped, its _entire paw_ \- sharp-as-fuck claws and all- around his waist! It could have murdered him in cold blood _right there_! But it didn't. Why? What did it gain from throwing him around! Because that was what it was doing. Tossing him around like a dog would a tennis ball… was that what this was!? A massive-ass dog that was playing with its new toy!? What sick pleasure could it gain from even doing something like this!? He knew that it was smarter than given, but still! Sadism or not, that is just wrong!

Finally, Kein's mind was able to comprehend the unyielding pressure that forced its way onto all sides of his figure, but all that his vocal cords could produce was a faint squeak followed by a rush of air. Despite his pain, his right hand still had enough sensitivity for him to feel the harsh chill of steel. Trying his utmost to block out the ache of rashes and the fatigue brought on by lack of adrenaline in his system, and the absolutely brutal assault he had just endured, Kein allowed his head to fall to the side. On his right side lay his satchel- flap wide open and its contents spilt all over the ground, his hole puncher, recently placed stapler, and now-broken calculator being only a few of the objects. Rolling his eyes downwards, he filtered the colors of the random items to just one: the silver gleam of his younger brother's knife.

Lost in this recent discovery, he was abruptly knocked out of his musing when an all-too-familiar weight landed on top of his chest. Panic set in and Kein lurched forward, only to be pushed back by the hulking beast that now had its right paw placed atop his body. His head having already snapped upwards, he stared into the malice-filled pupils of his blue attacker; his own fearful reflection displayed across its eyes. As if to more deeply secure its hold on him, the creature pressed down on his breast with its claws, digging the sharp edges into his exposed skin. Kein cried out with newfound pain as one of the blade-like talons threatened to puncture his flesh- as a response, he brought both hands up to the animal's paw, and pushed. Even with the combined effort of both his arms and the unnatural strength provided by his own body's natural five-hour energy, the trunk-like foot barely moved a centimeter and all he really achieved was more pain from his previous ailments.

Kein's failed attempt at escape did gain him one thing: laughter from the bastard above him. The instant Kein heard the rough, guttural chuckles coming from the thing pinning him to the ground, he immediately stopped struggling. It was laughing at him. Normally, Kein would question how in the world it was snickering at all, but his current mindset prevented him from perceiving anything logical. So rather than restarting his escape, he yelled the first thing that came to mind.

"Why are you attacking _me_!?" Unsurprisingly, the only thing his sudden outburst was rewarded with was more sniggering. Seeing the bitch respond in such an uncaring way caused Kein to fall deeper and deeper into his finally surfaced anger. Unfortunately, he was unable to further expel his attitude due to the ice-spitting attacker's muzzle being promptly shoved into his own face. Despite the suddenness of this motion, Kein's expression remained unchanged. He already knew this thing could understand him, but- once again- given his current state, that was the least of his worries. So instead he was just waiting for the sentence to come, and less than a second later, he was answered.

"Because," it stated in a deep, rumbling tone, causing the non-snow covered hair along Kein's back to stand erect.

"You," as the second word came, the creature emphasized it with a single push of its leftmost claw- digging it further into its captive's flesh.

"Are," the middle talon found its way into Kein's chest, forcing him to push off with his hands to prevent the splitting of skin.

"Pathetic," finally, the last word was drawn out- and to add to it- the last claw was set into place.

Kein froze, his expression taking on a goldfish-like stare as the words repeated in his mind. _You. Are. Pathetic._ Those words… those same words. The statement struck a chord buried deep within him, under layers of hidden anger and hatred, and the killing intent that had only ever once shown itself in his life... resurfaced. Kein's gaze hardened and his teeth clenched together in righteous fury; his hands lost their desperate hold in favor of a more angered grasp.

"Oh, I'm the pathetic one!" he started with mindless sarcasm in spite of his dire situation. "So, either you're mentally deficient or the meaning of the word is different between us!" Kein's grip on the creature's paw adjusting in an effort to remove the itch of sharpness its talons caused. "Because what could be more pathetic than attacking, maiming, and causing an innocent person pain- all just for fun!" By this point the posture of the bastard towering over him had changed, its previously content look being replaced by a defeated sneer. But, Kein was not satisfied with just ending the beast's satisfaction. No, he wanted more. He wanted recompense for what he had been through, he wanted revenge. And revenge, he would get.

"But you like that, don't you!? Pain!" Kein snapped, regaining the attention of the brute. "You enjoy the suffering of others!" he continued, shuffling his hands even more, preparing for what he was about to do.

"Fine! You sick fucking _sadist_! You got that, didn't you!? From me!" Kein reminded, his right hand falling limp- causing him to wince from the sudden jab from the claw it was holding up. "Well, I can tell you there'll be a little bit more," his own eyes boring into the whites of his enemy's, "and it won't be from me."

"Thanks, Tom."

Faster than the natural eye could track, Kein's hand shot down to the hooked dagger at his side; his fingers wrapped around its handle within the instant and lifted it above the creature's paw. The opposite hand released its hold on the foot of the sentient animal, letting the weight fall freely upon his chest, and grabbed the middle toe of the appendage. Yelling to the heavens, Kein drove the hook of Tom's Knife into the hide of his assailant, the razor-sharp blade flaying the flesh like properly tenderized meat and latching around the bone of the digit.

Kein ground his teeth at the ear-shattering roar that accompanied the stopping of the knife against the bone, and just as quickly as the pressure of the paw came, it tried to leave. Unfortunately for the magnitudinous beast, the hook that was stuck around the cartilage of the toe was designed exactly for this reason, and as the creature pulled away, the curve cut into the bone. However, it did not slice cleanly through. Kein hadn't underestimated the strength of his attacker, though. He knew that it could easily fling him any which way at the wave of a paw. But it was this exact strength that he was counting on to achieve two things: one, to lift him up and onto his feet. That was easy enough to accomplish, as literally the second the thought entered his mind the blue brute raised its right foot, taking him and the knife with it.

Two, to cut its own toe off. There was no way that Kein would have been able to pull the toe of his attacker off completely with his own power alone, even with the help of the spike pommel that was meant to keep your hand on the grip. So, why not enlist the help of his attacker's brawn? Couple that with his own force added by gravity, and you've got one less digit on your foot. With a satisfying _shank_ , the blade broke through the ligaments holding the toe to the foot- dropping the dangling man to the ground and allowing the thoroughly infuriated creature to recoil in uninterfered shock.

Kein stayed in his kneeling position for a solid second, just to recap on what had occurred in the last few moments; his ears barely registered the tingle of metal from what he presumed to be him stepping on his fallen-out satchel supplies. He had just _cut the toe off of his attacker_! Not something he did every day! In fact, not something he's done, _ever_. Only one instance came close, but that event put this one way under the bar! Yet here he was, and there it was, sitting in terrified wonderment and flailing around in pain respectively while blood-coated the knife still firmly held in his palm! Looking back, Kein couldn't even recall what he had said! It was just quiet mumbles and fogged rage, coupled with heavy breathing and the rush of achieving some victory over his assailant! Just like the last time!

But, however much Kein would have loved it not to, the outside world continued to play out while he judged his current mental state. His reminder of this fact came in the way of his second bitch-slap of the day, this one being much more intense. Looking up just in time to see the now two-pronged foot of his attacker. Kein once again barely managed to throw his hands up before getting kicked- one of the claws clipping his bag's strap and slicing it half-way through. As the force flipped him across the field the cut in the strap of his satchel broke, releasing the cloth sack from around his shoulder and sending it flying away from his body.

Kein couldn't tell what was worse: the kick, the landing, or the loss of his possessions. Not that it mattered, his body didn't hurt. His brain long ago losing the ability to interpret pain or need in favor of pure focus. His muscles had stopped aching, not from rest, but from numbness of overuse. Even Kein's internal, visible-blood-induced nausea had vanished, any form of sustenance previously existing having been quickly dissolved by the influx of acid after many attempts at vomiting. So as the beaten man hit the ground chest first, he wasted no time curling in on himself in fear of losing his sense of feeling entirely.

His painless self-loathing lasted no more than a second, as his ears picked up the soft _thud_ of cloth against grass and the dull _shank_ of a knife entering dirt. Releasing his head from his tucked in position, his eyes widened as they met the brown fabric of his satchel next to the silver sheen of Tom's knife. Blinking slowly, he reached his left arm out for the dark strap of the bag, merely to find a meter's gap between it and its destination. With a light groan, Kein unfurled the remainder of his figure, adding to the length of his arm. With trembling hands he grasped the belt and began to pull on it, only for the light blue kitchen oven to come slamming down on the humerus of his left arm. Kein could only stare at the foot of the monster who was once again above him. Seconds passed, and still neither had moved. It wasn't until the three talons on the creature's toes curled inwards did he finally feel the effect of the hit.

Kein's body lost all forms of tension or compression as tidal waves of pain broke past the mental barrier his mind had constructed. His mouth fell agape in silent agony, the words that would have escaped being cut back, as if attempting to help his brain cope with the misery; his eyes all but popped out of their sockets as they peered upon the paw that held his arm captive. He barely felt the pricking of the other two claws as they dug into the left side of his body and the splash of red warmth that accompanied it, nor did the lack of pressure on his afflicted arm become apparent until he was completely flipped onto his back; the fractured bones being squashed flat against his chest by the several-ton weight pressing down on them. Even then, his mind was so clouded that the snarling muzzle of his attacker caused no fear to well within him.

He did not struggle, or move his still functional arm. Not that he could if he wanted to in the first place, as the two-toed foot that was holding him made sure to include this appendage in its grasp. All the epinephrine that had previously flowed through his system disappeared inexplicably, providing no form of relief from the badly performed thousand-needle acupuncture session that had finally caught up to him after twenty minutes of pure adrenal fluid. Kein was nothing more than a lump. A lump of motionless flesh that would give zero shits had it been lazy Saturday, but sadly, it wasn't.

Had this been the first injury he had sustained, more by him could have been done. But since this was the... _fourth_ majorly debilitating wound he had received, his body's strength was so spent that even the energy needed energy! Weakening him to the point were his own eyes crossed from lack of control. Luckily, as the creature above him jostled his frame with its shuddery breathing, the resulting wave of pain snapped his brain into consciousness. Kein, who could only manage to flutter his eyelids open, gazed into the deep royal purple irises of his four-legged, eleven-toed captor. His mind, being capable of rendering simple expressions, could only identify unadulterated anger. He didn't remember why it was pissed, nor could he recall in his shaken state why he was pinned to the ground.

But even in Kein's unfortunate state of being he was able to comprehend that his current position was _not_ the best one, and to deepen the truth of the thought even more, his distorted vision was able to pick up a blinding white gleam of what could only be one thing. As his eyes uncrossed to focus on the ivory tip of the three-pronged sword that currently sat a full two meters above his face, Kein's neck twitched, causing him to become suddenly aware of the executioner's blade above his head.

Surprisingly, the short amount of time he had been resting was enough of a break for his adrenal glands, and as soon as death once again became a possible outcome, they started pumping Kein's veins full of mild painkillers and practical sugars- giving him a sudden awareness unrivaled by common perception. Sadly, this sudden ability to sense _everything_ that was going on around him as well as what was happening in his body brought about another form of awareness: Pain. Okay, his last statement was a lie, there was certainly more suffering on his part. If not, it was at least equal! Regardless of the new motivation his body gave him, the sting from the fractured bone that was pinned harshly across his chest pulsed through him. Nausea started to rear its head within his throat as the agonizing numb feeling washed up his shoulder and into his head, and for the second time within the hour, tears began to well up in his eyes.

He was conscious enough to cry! Whether it was a miracle or a curse, Kein did not know. However, despite his want for an end to his own suffering, he knew that his wish wasn't going to fulfill itself. But first, he needed to know the extent of the damage done to his arm. Sadly, he was completely unable to even see the limb, let alone move it into a position where he could. Also, it didn't help that he creature was using its missing-middle-toe paw to hold him down, making it impossible to tell whether or not it was _his_ blood or the life fluid of his nemesis. Despite this impairment, he could still slightly feel the arm itself, not that the immense pressure that was placed upon it helped any, through the numbness of the injury. From what he could tell, it was inwardly fractured- due to the elbow-like poke he was feeling over his left lung- and the skin wasn't broken, hopefully. It would be easy to pop back into place… if, he could do that, and internal bleeding wasn't going to be an issue. At least he had those going for him!

However, any positive benefits were pushed aside when Kein was snapped out of his musing by the feeling of a blade against his neck. Somehow, while he was thinking, the blue bastard above him had managed to sneak its massive fucking sword-tail down and placed _just the tip_ above his throat. All frightening things aside, Kein was actually not surprised by this, he was pretty deep in thought and the ache of his body helped with that more so. Going back, _holy fuck, problems_! Kein _immediately_ started flipping shit, his workable arm flailing within the centimeter of space it had in an attempt to free itself. Causing the blade above his head to suddenly jerk back up. But despite how desperate the situation seemed, Kein's imagination got the better of him. _Lacking adrenaline? We can fix that! No motivation in that brain? Sure, it's a cinch to solve! Looking for one less head!? Just stop down over to the_ fucking 'executioners superstore' _and get your certificate of death, today!_

Unfortunately, Kein's struggles gained him no more than a sharp jab of pain and more monstrous chuckling from the monster above him- causing him to halt all movements. His breathing had turned into short, sporadic huffs and basic actions- like swallowing- had become involuntary. Once Kein's skirmish with the paw had seemed to cease, the creature ended its laughter and just stared into him, only for it to begin raising its tail back to its two-meter height. However, Kein was miles from finished. His mind working at innumerable speeds in a desperate attempt to save his own life. He had to be able to do _something_. Even if it was just some simple action, like moving his head to the side as the blade was brought down! Maybe, he could knee the thing in a pressure point, causing its paw to fall limp and release him! Or, he could reach his head up and bite one of the still-attached toes off! _Fuck!_ He could just _spit on it_ and hope for the best!

So he did! Take that, beast of immeasurable power!

And thus pissed the creature off even more than it already was. In hindsight, not exactly very… impressive.

Kein blinked slowly as he gazed into the thoroughly ticked expression of his captor. He couldn't believe- and from what it seemed, neither did the beast- that he had just attempted to _spit_ his way out of this problem. That was stupid. Really stupid. More stupid than pretty much anything he'd seen done by _anyone_. What the hell was he even trying to accomplish!? Was his panicked mind really _that_ desperate as to start spitting on things!? What the hell!? And to make him seem like even more of a pathetic being, the creature above him _rolled its eyes_ , as if saying 'Are you done now?'.

No, Kein was not done! Despite feeling like a complete lowlife that didn't deserve anything, he still had some fight left in him! But this spirit was promptly vanquished when he thoroughly thought about his previous statement. A complete lowlife… that, didn't seem right. No, not at all. How could he be considered a lowlife by spitting on his attacker? That was something defiant people did, not the scum of the earth. Yet despite his own confidence in his false self-accusation, it didn't remove the feeling of uselessness, and along with it came a new sense of lacking. Lacking the fear of death. In a sudden wave of depression, Kein started to question his own continued existence, as now seemed like the best time for him to contemplate death, seeing as he was sure to face it soon.

He felt nothing. No sadness, no remorse, nothing, like he never had anything to regret leaving. Which was slightly true, and as the sad realization struck him, one thought came to mind: Who would remember him? It wasn't like he had any real friends or family members. The twins were most likely celebrating his disappearance, the police would just say he was gone. Heck if he _was_ still in school, the board would probably remove his name from the class roster and that would be it. He could see the hypothetical situation play out in his head.

'Class, today we lost a dear friend. Kein was a good student. Kind to his fellow students. Friend to the friendless. Helpful in ways this school has never known. But sadly, he was taken from us. He had so much to live for. So as a commemoration to his soul, let us have a moment of silence… Now open your books to page three hundred and ninety-four.'

Fucking reference based thought-processes.

Even if the people he knew wouldn't remember him, others would… right? The only real thing he contributed to society up to that point was the random sketch-paintings he sold and the odd jobs he was forced to take up... so, that was it. The only way he would be remembered was a signature and a few lines or the check-in box at the nearest shit-shoveling factory. Congratulations! You now own the artwork of a barely twenty-year-old dead man! What the hell are you going to do with it! Hang it on the wall with the rest of your _dead art_! But the worst part was the failed promise that was the last thing his mother asked of him: Taking care of his younger brothers. That was it, simple, yet impossible now. It filled him with a grief greater than any he had felt before, even greater than when his mother died.

Even through all the layers of his depressing thoughts, Kein still managed to find the two things to make this all seem like a joke. It was his second day in a new place. Hell, with the most recent developments, a new _world_ , that he had escaped to after almost being killed, and he was now about to die. As well as the date being April 11th, the exact day his mother died. The irony was _overwhelming_.

If it wasn't for his constricted chest, Kein would have laughed at his own situation, but the glint of the silver blade that now hung above his head brought him back to reality. He watched the creature above him lower the icy sword till the was only centimeters from his forehead. Looking up to the beast that was about to end his life, he cracked a visibly strained smile, knowing that it just didn't matter anymore. The animal faltered for a second before deepening its scowl and raising the blade- preparing to strike. Taking one last breath, Kein closed his eyes.

 _You better prepare your ears Mom,_ he started in his mind, _because don't I have a story to tell._ And with one fluid motion, the blade was brought down.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **And there you have it! Sort, I know, but hey! Don't blame me, I didn't want to split it...**

 **Krathnic: WILL HE LIVE? WILL HE DIE?**

 **That's the question… Literally what I just wrote.**

 **Krathnic: IS HE THE DRAGON?**

 **Okay that… I can't say… Haven't got anywhere near that. Still thinking it out.**

 **Krathnic: You should retcon him into being a dragon when you go back and edit the first few chapters.**

 **Re-edit the edits… And no. No. That is a no-no…**

…

 **No.**

 **Krathnic: But we were dragon, and you were us. So YOU were dragon. AND WROTE THIS!**

 **Good god. Why? I can't even say. No… I refuse to continue that.**

 **Krathnic: Can any of us even. Not to get solipsistic, but you are probably a robot dragon, just saying.**

 **Welcome to the school of unrelated topics! Please submit all forms to counselor at the right. Your teacher will be Krathnic! Because clearly, he has shown us to be the master of such an art.**

 **Krathnic: Lesson One: EVERYTHING YOU SEE, HEAR, OR TOUCH IS JUST YOUR BRAIN REACTING TO DIFFERENT STIMULI IN THE ENVIRONMENT. WE ARE IN A COMPUTER PROGRAM!111!1!11!**

 **Nobel Prize everyone… Nobel Prize.**

 **Krathnic: I SAID GOOD DAY, SIR!**


	8. Support From The Sidelines

**A/N:**

 **Krathnic: HOWEVER!** _ **The story continues...**_

 **Well, here you have it people! The last timeline in the story! SOOOO FAR!**

 **Aetheo: I'M ALIVE! ALIIIIIIVE!**

 **That you are. I keep wanting to say something… but I can't for my life remember what it is.**

 **Aetheo: I think that the reanimation spell was a bit slower than I expected. Damn ancient scrolls.**

 **AH! Okay, I remember. Alright, I wanted to know if you all would like me to do like a little reminder thing at the beginning of each chapter. Kind of like what they do in T.V. series so you know what happened last chapter. Like, 'Previously on 'insert T.V show name''**

 **Krathnic: *Begin old bearded Scottish man accent* HELLOO FRRIENDS!**

 **Aetheo: Goddamnit, why did we let the loch ness monster bring friends again?**

 **Krathnic: YESS, OL" NESSY! I'MA GOOUHD FRRIEND AH' 'IS!**

 **I don't follow...**

 **Aetheo: We know. Can we get Krath back?**

 **Krathnic: HELP MEH, I'M DYEING! I STARTED THE SCOOTTISH ACCCENT AND NOW I CAUN'T STOHP!**

 **Welcome to the disclaimer section. You all know that the disclaimer goes here. What you may not know is what the disclaimer contains. So here I am, notifying you to the disclaimers contents. All of the things I can disclaim include: the stories bases, about… eight of the characters previously mentioned, all of the locations so far, and… other disclaimer things.**

 **Aetheo: Tonight! WE DINE! On fudge. Not entirely sure why I have it, but I do. Lesgo.**

 **Krathnic: SOHUNDS LIKE A FINE MEEAL!**

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 **Chapter 8: Support From the Sidelines**

The daisy swung lazily in the warm spring breeze, allowing the sun to be unconsciously soaked up by its creamy white petals. Its stem rose high above the lush grass and soil that held the flower's roots tightly, its height allowing it to steal up the sunlight before the ground dwellers below had a chance to even wish for the comforting heat. Never once did this solitary flower think it was in danger- not that the daisy could really do much of anything if a threat presented itself. Still, in the blissful ignorance that is non-sentience, the perennial remained vigilant and used its oh-so-existent sensory organs to scout the surrounding landscape for potential natural enemies, such as the common… _deer._ If it hadn't been for the slight and random gusts of wind that came through the small field, the flower would _not_ have shuddered. And as another breeze filled the meadow, the daisy was knocked out of its reverie. Realigning its drooped petals and bent stem, it regained the menial amount of focus that a plant could retain, and began to push the brunt of its energy into creating seeds and pollen. Dew visibly formed on the underside of its petals and the flower grunted inaudibly- creating a single cell along its stem- signifying a new bud.

Suddenly, a dark indigo blur followed by a massive wave of wind shot past the 'strained' flower. The daisy was bent completely parallel to the ground, allowing it to magically avoid the silver sheen that could only be identified as a metal blade. The flower screamed in silent pain. A few of its petals being forcefully removed by the deep purple flash, meaning that only a handful of the white leaflets remained. Panting heavily from the sudden frontal assault, the thoroughly terrified daisy slouched. Trying to make itself as small as possible- as to not draw any attention- just in case whatever had brutally mauled it came back. The stumps that used to contain petals now oozed 'blood,' further weakening the already damaged floret. Tensely, after what seemed like an eternity of fearful waiting, the daisy began to uncurl itself. Slowly and shakily, it peered out from behind its remaining petals. Abruptly, the flower shrieked, and before it could respond in any way the immobile creature could, it was ripped from the safety of its _obvious_ hiding place by a purple snout moving at high speeds. An unending wail emanated from the broken daisy as it 'unconsciously' gripped the object that held its fate.

* * *

Spyro blinked cross-eyed at the small flower that was now stuck on the front of his snout. With an ired huff, he let loose a small puff of air, launching the annoying plant off of his muzzle. Absentmindedly, he slowed to a hover and his eyes followed it as the fast-moving air currents whisked the daisy away from him, letting the flora glide slowly towards to the ground. His brow furrowed- he could have sworn he heard a _scream_ as the plant vanished from his eyesight. Yet to spite this momentary pause, his confused thoughts were interrupted when a vibrant laugh emanated from his front. Whipping back to attention, his eyes dilated on a dark figure that hovered at his high no more than fifty feet away.

"What's the matter Spyro?" Cynder asked with a small giggle. "Why'd you stop? I thought we were racing!" she finished, flapping harder- if only slightly- to move closer to her purple companion.

Spyro only continued to stare, her dark purple scales sparking a small light inside his mind. Within the moment, he had recalled the events of the past couple days in a violent flash of images and broken speech. It had been, from his reminiscence, one week since that fateful day. One full, uninterrupted, peaceful week of blissful nothingness, one week since the fall of Malefor.

During this short time of light, both he and Cynder had recovered from their battle, though faster than anyone had dared to expect. Naturally, she had blamed their amazing recovery on him. Stating- with an unnatural amount of enthusiasm- that in the fury of energy he had created, some of it was used to mend their bodies. Spyro had to admit it did make sense, considered that the unexplained energy had done the unfathomable and rebuilt the entire _planet_ , spare for the purple crystal core that had been expelled during the fiery release.

To say he was surprised at his sudden power would have been an understatement. He knew that purple dragons were supposed to be _the_ most powerful beings in all existence- having easily memorized the entire speech that Volteer seemed to share with everyone that would listen. But despite his already acclimated knowledge of his own power, seeing it in action- or, at least, witnessing it unleashed from within himself- was nerve-wracking. It actually concerned him. Being able to pull a grouping of rocks millions- if not billions- of times the size of any dragon like it was a pebble was a power he thought _no_ one should possess, not even himself. Yet, here he was. Still recovering, or at that's what Cynder told him, from a battle against _another_ purple dragon.

As the fight with the dreaded mingled with his current thoughts, Spyro couldn't help but thank his ridiculous luck. If one thought about it, if he himself controlled the power of the heavens and could move planets at a whim, what could Malefor do? Spyro barely even used his elements in combat, and in all honestly, he was hardly trained at all! Maybe a month or two with each of the Guardians, but even with the undivided attention from his teachers, he doubted that was nearly enough time to master an element. Sure, he also had the help of The Chronicler, but still! To say that he was a 'Master' of the four elements would be a lie and a great exaggeration of his actual skill with them.

However, if one looked at Malefor, it could be easily seen that the dastardly dragon had _years_ of experience with _all_ the elements, not just four. It wasn't like he had spent his life in the realm of Convexity just screwing off. No, he was probably training, just like Spyro had, but only with more complex abilities and attacks. Going back to the power of planets, if Spyro could do something that insane, what could Malefor do? He shuddered at the thought. Malefor, with the power to _control_ plants, not destroy or heal them. It wasn't something that _anyone_ would have wanted, as at that point he could have flat out blown _everything up_ as soon as he was released on the Night of Eternal Darkness.

Though this was the strange part. Why was it that when he and Cynder were fighting the era old dragon he did not _once_ show any sky shattering power? That was the concern that had not been apparent until after the battle. Was Malefor just hiding them? Did he not think that the two of them were enough of a threat as to use his greatest attack? There was the Fury shield near the end of the battle, but when said evil had used it, both he and Cynder had been granted increased powers as well. Maybe that's why he wasn't using realizing any god powers- so he would transfer any energy to his enemies. Regardless, the basic elements that Malefor possessed would have been far more powerful than his own. Yet strangely enough, the only attacks used in the battle by the dark 'master' were balls of ice and fire, as well as a spread shot of Convexity coupled with the master element in breath form. It wouldn't be hard to believe that the overly powerful king of evil would have a more diverse arsenal of attacks. Not that Spyro wasn't thankful. No, he was absolutely ecstatic when he and Cynder were able to quickly pick up on his attack patterns; it had made the fight a lot more safe once they knew what would come next.

Despite this, the battle was more than a close one. Even with Malefor's apparent lack of skill, he made up for it with raw power and sheer endurance. When they first discovered that their own powers over Convexity barely even dented his _expression_ , it was a major a blow to their will to fight and even more so to the illusion of strength they thought they had. To make breaking the pairs' mental health even easier, whenever one of them had actually gotten hit by one of the purple dragons attack... well, it was easy to say that if Spyro hadn't been wearing the golden armor they had found along their travels- along with the strange link the twin jade snakes had created between them- he would have been reduced to a shriveling pile of mush within the instant. Though after the battle, if there was one feeling that the two shared, it had been the sense of invincibility.

At the time, this feeling was greater than any of the mind soothing herbs Cyril and his alchemy could cook up. Unfortunately, their sense of indestructibility had been cut short when the planet started to fall apart. Sure, he had been able to fix it, afterward… but still, not good. He recalled the terrifying few seconds of lying on a tiny piece of broken rock at the center of the earth after he had released his pent-up energy. Most of the memory was blurry and covered in the strange fog of forgetfulness that every creature was susceptible to, but the one thing that he'd always remember and would haunt his dreams were the monstrous, god crushing chunks of earth that fell all around them- daring gravity to hurl them at the broken heroes. It had filled him with an unforgettable feeling of dread, a dread of dying, unfulfilled and alone, in the blackness of the void when no one could hear him cry.

However, when his eyes had fallen on Cynder, he found her smiling at him. It still shocked him to his day, seeing his only friend- minus his brother, Sparx- _smile_ at the face of death. Almost like she was finally getting removed from a never-ending hell or that her life _was_ , in fact, complete. That one expression was enough to send a flurry of emotionally harmful questions through his brain. Was it really _that_ bad being chained to him? Was he really that _terrible_? That death, was the only way to escape him or whatever her mental torment was? However, thoughts of self-pity and loathing were not the only conclusions he had made. Another was that she was _finally_ free. Having been the Dark Master's slave for more than eighty percent of her life, he thought that it didn't really matter to her if she was about to die or not, just as long as freedom was hers at last. Sadly, he couldn't ask at the time, being half dead himself and all. Then, before any other thoughts could go through his head, everything went white.

When he had awoken, he had found his dragoness companion staring down at him with a devilish grin plastered on her snout. For a second, he thought that she was going to attack him, which she did, but instead of harming him, she crushed him, in the tightest hug that he would most likely ever experience in his life. She then proceeded to lift him up off the ground with strength he did not know she possessed, all while screaming ' _We did it_ ' in his ears. That was the first day. The second had been a lot more calm, much to his lungs enjoyment. However, that didn't cease the seemingly eternal flow of enthusiastic energy that was produced by the Persian indigo female. Spyro could fully understand maybe... _half_ , of the reasons she was excited. Clearly she was happy that her former master was dead, never be heard from again and that they had saved the world with their combined might. Another reason would be that they had actually _lived_. She had made it very apparent that they were _not_ dead, and continued to exploit the fact by giving him bear hugs and words of praise that would shame even the most immodest. The sheer amount of physical contact she provided was enough to make anyone go insane, as she had practically held onto him like he was the last _thing_ on the planet or that nothing else was good enough for her praise.

Luckily, her excitement started to die down over the course of the week until she once again became what he regarded as 'normal' for her. She still had her random fits of utter and untamable joy as well as the constant need to be next to him while they slept. But other than those two things, she had regained her witty, resourceful, independent, and not _deafeningly_ happy self. That didn't mean she was suddenly mellow- instead, she merely gained the ability to be _concerned_ about whether or not he was being suffocated. Despite the constant heartfelt crushing, Spyro couldn't blame her. He too was immensely excited that they had defeated Malefor and reverted the world to its original state, and, if he allowed himself to brag, slightly better. But instead of doing what Cynder had unexpectedly chosen to do and show his happiness in a wave of uncontrollable delight, he was more _subtle_. Yes, he would also break out in random fits of laughter and would return her affections with his own, but at least he was _somewhat_ stable. Though he did show some greater form of happiness via a different method: Games! Like what he and Sparx used to do when they were younger, and like the two dragons are right now.

"Spyro?" The respective drake lifted his head up- as it had drifted downwards during his thought process- and settled his gaze upon the indigo dragoness. "Spyro, are you okay?" her voice was laced with the loving concern that only a friend could have.

The purple dragon looked to the ground fifty feet below, a troubled expression dawning across his muzzle. Was this really a proper time to ask her? That was the question. He really wanted to know why she seemed so _content_ with death. That, he was certain, was a thing that _no one_ should wish for. Though, it might bring up bad memories, knowing how sensitive she is on the topic of her corruption. Even though the question was not directly poking that subject, Spyro knew that it would pop up sooner or later. Still, that nagging feeling of not _knowing_ and uncertainty was getting the better of him. If it was because some of the more self-oriented reasons he had thought of, he _needed_ to know, just so he could attempt to right whatever wrong he had done. Slowly, he started to descend, much to the shock of the still worried Cynder, who followed shortly after.

"Spyro, what's wrong? You can tell me," she pleaded softly as the pair landed on the lush green grass that covered the plains of their current location. Sadly for her, he remained silent. Rarely had she ever seen Spyro like this, quiet and unsociable, and when she did, Cynder _hated_ it. He always had to put his two cents into a conversation, even if it didn't relate to him at all. When he did, the words were always positive and encouraging. The only other times in which she'd seen him like this were after Ignitus died and he failed to save a group of moles from a tossed bolder during the Battle of Warfang, so naturally she was concerned. Also, judging from the way he was blankly staring at the grass below him, it was apparent at he wasn't going to say anything soon, or at least not without prodding. But if it was his puny amount of failures that were currently getting to him, then she'd have to cheer him up before he goes into full blown denial.

"Seriously, Spyro, you're doing it again. You know that this is bad for you," Cynder pecked, similar to a mother scolding her child. However, she gained no reaction from the purple dragon, who continued to look deeply into the soil. Seeing that words currently had little effect on his attitude, she tried a more practical approach and began to move towards her companion. But Spyro had other plans, and as she neared him, he shuffled back.

Cynder was shocked. Never, had Spyro _ever_ , denied physical contact. It was her contact that prevented him from becoming 'Dark Spyro'... twice, if you count tackling him out of a beam of Convexity. Any other time he seemed at least willing to let her near him, if not flat out touch him. Yet here he was, _backing away_ from her like she was some kind of sick animal. To be honest, it hurt, a lot. She didn't stay in the core of the earth with him, inches away from death, so he could deny her affections. Sadly, instead of physically showing her discomfort from being blatantly denied, Cynder chose to be more verbal… more _aggressively_ verbal.

"Can you at least give me the shortened version of why you're acting like Ignitus died again?" she asked impatiently, her signature 'Seriously?' look forming as she spoke. Unfortunately, after those words, his muzzle dropped even more. As the words she had just spoken became apparent to her, Cynder immediately lost all sense of anger and swapped back to her concerned state. Mentioning the deceased Fire Guardian was probably _not_ the best thing to bring when he was in this mental state.

"I-I'm sorry Spyro. I shouldn't hav-," Cynder began in apology. However, Spyro cut her off before her full reparation could be sent.

"It's not that," he started, "it's… it's just..." but was unable finish. Was this _really_ the best time to ask? He could just ask the question and _destroy_ every last bit of happiness that Cynder had or he could say nothing and wait. Sure, that did sound a bit exaggerated, but he didn't want to take any risks. It was either her happiness or his own satisfaction. It was pretty clear which one he was going to choose, and he planned on keeping that way for as long as possible.

However, his thoughts didn't answer any questions or solve any problems. If anything, his decision put him in even more of a tight spot. Now he needed to think of an excuse, which would be considerably hard due to that fact that he was dealing with _Cynder_. Heck, even Terrador had recognized her perspective and character reading abilities. It would be like trying to convince someone that the temple walls were actually made from moon rock, _and_ it was comprised entirely of cheese... that stayed unaffected by gravity as long as it was given a regular feeding of mushrooms. Even then, he really, _really_ , didn't want to lie to her, as she was his one and _only_ friend. Spyro did not want to break ties with the one who had saved his ass more times than he'd looked at it. Shattering that kind of trust really hurts people, and Cynder was someone who he would _never_ hurt. At least, not if he had a choice. Still, he would have to try, and if it didn't work and she saw through it, then he'd have to think of another, possibly better excuse as to why she left to give to the others.

Suddenly, it clicked. What about the others? Sparx, Hunter, the Guardians? What happened to them? They had been gone for an almost two weeks and not _once_ , had he considered what had happened to the rest of their group. Hopefully, they weren't dead. He had restored the planet, but what had happened _before_ that. Spyro cringed at the mental image of the Guardians trapped under a pile of boulders while Hunter and Sparx tried to dig them out, only to get crushed with them. And what of Warfang? Had the city been destroyed during the literally earth-splitting earthquake? Or had it also been restored with the land? Also, on the topic of the land, where the heck were they? He had asked Cynder when he had woken up if she knew where they were, but in her joy missed the question and instead was more focused on her next complementary sentence. But back onto the topic of an excuse, the others.

"Spyro, are you sure you don't want to tell me?" Cynder said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen between the two. Quickly, Spyro looked up, his gaze falling directly onto the concerned eyes of her own.

"No, no I-I'll tell you. It's just that… that… well," he stammered out, only to stop from embarrassment when he noticed Cynder's raised eye ridge.

"Spyro-."

"It's the others!" he managed to blurt out unexpectedly, "I'm just worried about them!" He saw Cynder recoil for a brief moment, obviously having the same thought process he had moments ago. But wanting to continue her pursuit, she quickly came up with a conclusion.

"Spyro, I'm sure they-"

"How, though?! How are you sure!?" he cut her off, already knowing the rest of her sentence. "H-How do we know their fine? We didn't rebuild the planet instantly! Wh-What if something happened before that!? What if they're dead?"

Cynder hesitated again, the thought did leave a sour taste in her mouth, but regardless, where did all these negative ideas come from? No, less than five minutes ago was he laughing his throat sore, racing her all the way to ancestors knows where. Then suddenly, he turns all depressed, refuses to speak, and won't let her near him. Now he's coming up with thoughts of death and destruction?

"Spyro I'm sure they all-"

"A-And what about Warfang? What about all the m-moles? The city _had_ to have been de… destroyed," Spyro interrupted yet again. His eyes were darting all around them, attempting to recognize something that would prove him wrong. Sadly, when nothing became apparent he began to hyperventilate. Tears started to brim up in his eyes, his former 'excuse' turning into full-blown concern. Just thinking about all the things he's even loved being obliterated- it was just too much. "How do we kn-know that e-everyone got underground? And all the outlying villages! What if the m-message didn't get to them!? Everyone could be dead, Cynder! What are we-!"

"SPYRO!" The sudden exclamation caused the respective drake to jump, but he didn't have the chance to willingly turn as his muzzle was forcefully yanked until he came snout to snout with his angry eyed companion.

"They're. All. Fine," she said slowly, adding emphasis to each word. "Okay? Sparx is alive. Hunter is alive. Terrador, Cyril, Volteer, they're all alive. The moles are all still underground. Warfang is still standing," her speech seemed reassuring, but as Cynder looked into his eyes she still found the sallow glow of doubt. "Didn't you see Hunter send his falcon out as soon as Ignitus told everyone to move? _Alright?_ They're all okay. You defeated him. You restored the planet. You won!"

A windy silence fell upon the two as the last words echoed through the meadow. Cynder continued to hold Spyro's snout, not letting it fall back down to face the dirt. She could still see some doubt, but judging on the fact that he had closed his mouth and stopped resisting her hold, he had, at least, calmed down. However, after just a few seconds, his cheeks started to turn red and a small grin appeared on his muzzle.

"We," he replied, pushing her paws off his snout and looking away in new-found embarrassment, "we won."

Cynder smirked, knowing that her work was done and that she had once again brought back the _real_ Spyro. However, he did bring up several good points. They _hadn't_ rebuilt the planet instantly and at that thought even she had some doubts, but he didn't need to know that. What he did need though, was some more cheering up. However, with all the recently surfaced questions, it might be more effective to answer those then try to avoid them. Sadly, in order to answer even one of the things that had been brought up, she needed to ask _another_ question.

"So..." she began, catching his attention with her tone of voice. "Where do do you think we actually are?" If Spyro had asked that question she would have slapped herself. Up to this point, she really hadn't cared where they were, just as long as he was there alongside her.

At this inquiry, two pairs of eyes suddenly shot up and for the first time in almost a week, and studied their surroundings. Clearly, they were in a meadow. It was no more special than the last. Having patches of flowers and tall grass scattered around as well as the occasional humps and ditches, there even was a small group of boulders off to one side near the tree line. The most striking feature was a large, completely out of place fallen log in the very center of the field. Clearly, it had been there for quite some time, as its sides were covered in all different kinds of moss and mushrooms, as well as it being slightly decayed in some places. All in all, it was quite, quaint, and a generally pleasant place to be. Though both dragons secretly wished that they could stay here in each other's company, they knew that there were more pressing matters to attend. Plus, once they figured out where they were, they could come back whenever they wanted.

As the fresh scent of morning dew continued to cloud their sense of smell, neither spoke, instead, the dragons decided to soak up this newfound peace. However, this didn't last long, as a quick breeze found its way into the field, quickly chilling the two; it reminded them that it was mid-morning and they had places to be. Once brought back to focus, Spyro spoke.

"Kind of looks like the Valley of Avalar," he stated somewhat hesitantly. It was true, the lush green trees, plump feathery bushes, and short clean-cut grass were all _very_ prominent features of the Valley of Avalar.

"No," Cynder started, catching his attention, "it can't be. If this was Avalar, where's all the water?" Spyro balked in surprise, she was right, there wasn't any water, or at least not here. The one _major_ thing that Avalar had that this place didn't was water. _Lots_ , of water. You couldn't go more than two hundred feet without finding _another_ stream or river. It was a damn miracle that the place wasn't a marsh. But the water did bring one thing, fertility. Avalar was famous for its abundance of naturally grown fruits and vegetables. It was this collection of edibles that also brought the incredible amount of wildlife that inhabited the valley into existence. It was this combination of food, water, and climate that made Avalar one of the most valuable territories in the Dragon Realms, its trade unparalleled by any other. However, getting that trade was the hard part. The valleys sentient species, the Cheetahs, were very territorial and didn't forgive easily. Though there were no wars between adjacent tribes, they went very trusting of outsiders, especially Dragons.

"Well if it isn't Avalar, then where are we?" Spyro replied, gazing skeptically at his shadowy friend. Catching on to the minor differences was generally Cynder's strong point, next to problem solving. However, before he could get an answer, she flared opened her wings and thrust into the air, channeling the surrounding air currents to quicken her ascent. Spyro's closed his eyes as wind rushed around him, causing his lips to flail back forming a comical grin. As soon as the gusts cleared he reopened his eyes to find Cynder no longer in front of him. A frown forming down on his muzzle he gazed skyward and found her hovering in place, whipping her head from side to side- scanning the surrounding countryside for landmarks.

The encompassing forest was just that, forest. From what she could see, it went on for a good couple of miles, especially to the south. She rotated her head a bit to the right and found her gaze settling on a massive mountain that towered above the rest. Clearly, this was The Great Volcano, which was situated in The Burned Lands. Strangely, The Burned Lands looked less... burned. Instead, the surrounding land was dotted in small patches of grass and saplings, which contrasted immensely on the black basalt backdrop. _Apparently_ , when the two had defeated Malefor, the magic holding the Ring of Annihilation together failed, causing it to collapse with the Destroyer and letting the land within regain its natural flow, allowing plants to grow on the barren slope. A small grin appeared on Cynder's face as she gazed upon the mountain, happy that even _more_ traces of Malefor's evil had been erased.

Continuing her clockwise rotation, Cynder's eyes fell next on the northern horizon. A first glance the distance made the green haze seem like more forest. However, as she steadied her gaze, she found that the supposed trees were actually fields of grass, rolling plains of the luscious plants that seemed to always end abruptly at patches of rocks, almost like the cliffs of Tall Plains. Ignoring the anomaly, she rotated right one last time, ending on an extensive patch on mountains. Said mountains seemed to connect all the way from the strange plains to the lower portions of the forest. But as she observed the last mountain to the right, she found that it dipped down sharper than the rest, almost like it was sinking into a gorge. Feeling content with her observations, she looked down to Spyro, who was patiently waiting for her below. Smiling, she began to descend.

"So, anything familiar?" he immediately asked, hoping that there was some indication of their location, but his hopes fell when her small grin faded from existence.

"Strangely, no," she stated. "Other than The Great Volcano, or something I may have missed."

"Oh," Spyro replied, somewhat downcast. "Well, what did you see?" After a second, Cynder swiveled her head around, quickly recalling her observations.

"To put it plainly," she began, returning her attention to the purple dragon in front of her, "forest to the south, mountains to the east, plains to the north, and a blatantly obvious volcano to the west."

Spyro's brow furrowed at the quick description of their surroundings. Making a mental map, he took said information and put it into place, adding their current location in last. It was easy enough to determine that they were on the east side of the continent, since The Great Volcano was to the west. That was enough information to get them in the air, because all they'd have to do is fly till they hit the coast, then move west until Warfang came into sight. However, that would take an unnecessary amount of time. To get back as fast as possible they needed to know the _exact_ location of the city.

"We could just fly to the coast," Cynder pushed in, finishing her thoughts first.

"We could," he replied, finalizing his own, "but it would take too much time. I'd rather see if everyone's alive sooner rather than later." Another wave of silence flooded the meadow as the two went back to their plans. However, Spyro's were clouded, the thoughts of lose converged in never-ending tides of doubt and worry. Lucky, Cynder was once again _his_ savior, her sudden speech bringing him back to reality.

"We could try and see the city from the top of a mountain," she suggested, looking to Spyro for his approval. When she saw the look that clearly stated 'What mountain,' she whipped her head around to face the massive blacked slopes that consumed the center of the continent. When he realized what she was ensuing, he balked back in shock and one word came to his muzzle.

"No."

Cynder turned back with a raised eye ridge. He just denied the fastest way back to Warfang, right after saying they needed to get there faster. Contradictory much?

"No!" he stated again with the same backward enthusiasm.

"But it looks so much nicer now!" Cynder whined back, motioning to the now more lusciously green volcano. "Plus it's faster than any other way."

"Cynder, how can you even want to go back there!" Spyro practically shouted, keeping his words as firm as possible. "That was the last place, _he_ , was at." Yet his resolve failed as she rolled her eyes.

"Spyro, the last place he was at was the center of the earth," she started, adding a small amount of cockiness to her speech, "so he was just as far away from the volcano then as he is now."

"But _he_ was in the volcano!"

"And now he's _dead_ in the volcano!" Cynder snapped back. Spyro balked at her tone- losing all of his pre-planned rebuttals in his surprise. It was the first time since, well, ever, that she had really yelled at him like that and it actually concerned him.

Cynder, it seemed, didn't really care if he was shocked at her manner of speaking. If they were going to get anywhere then they needed to get moving, and having an argument over the grave of their worst enemy wasn't going to get anything done. Luckily, she realized this, and no matter what her stubborn traveling-partner said, they were going up the mountain, even if she had to pull him up. "Look, we can either spend a day flying up the mountain, or spend a week flying to the coast," she continued, staring down the purple hero in the process, "and if you want to see everyone sooner you'd put away your fears and just get it over with." The contest continued for a couple more seconds, neither wanting to break off from their own beliefs. But as the time passed, Spyro's expression began to soften, until it was no more than neutral face. Then as quickly as that came it was replaced with a slight hint of sadness.

"I-I'm sorry Cynder. I shouldn't have yelled," Spyro began, attempting to see if his muzzle could go yet further into the dirt. "I don't know why I'm... afraid, to go there. I suppose, it's just… that… I don't want to think about, _him_ , any more and just be done with it all," he finished, his head slightly more inclined than it had been.

"Hey," a paw was felt on his shoulder, bringing his muzzle back up to view Cynder's smirk, "if you think you're done with him, think about how I must feel." She didn't want to tell him, but for most of the week, she had been hiding behind a false sense of happiness. Why she was upset was unknown even to her. Judging from the recent events, saving Warfang, defeating Malefor, rebuilding the planet and _living_ , she should be overjoyed, yet she wasn't. She kept up this charade for Spyro's stake, or that what she told herself.

Now that she let slip a _small_ indicator that not all is what it seemed, she would have to start acting a bit better. Still, at least Spyro was happy, or looked happy. But that was the thing, was he just pulling her strings as well? His sudden outburst made a big dent in her beliefs, since one can't be conflicted and truly happy. However, she was certain that once they got back to Warfang, and _everyone_ was still there, both their moods would improve drastically.

However, once he heard Cynder's words, he felt even _worse_. Even if it had been for only a couple seconds, he had _completely_ neglected that fact that she had also dealt with the Dark Master, as well as longer than he had. It made him feel like a right _ass_ complaining about something that others had been _enslaved_ by. How she had been able to keep up her enthusiasm, even when he was acting like a spoiled child, was a mystery to him, and- yet again- was another reason why he liked her.

"Come on," his guardian angel's voice sounded. "You can apologize while we're flying," she finished, reading his expression like an open book before turning around and leaping into the air. Spyro looked up in slight shock, but a small smirk crossed his face anyway.

"Yeah, sorry."

* * *

 _Aw, no,_ Ellix's mind began, _here comes the master of ice cubes._

Mere minutes ago, Ellix and his oblivious friend, well, only his companion, technically, had entered a decently large field, in the valley that his family used to hunt. So _naturally_ , one of his family members _had_ to make an appearance, then proceed to assume the same assumption that he had made when he first saw his... 'friend.' The best part was that, of _all_ the dragons that could have appeared, Selic, he had to be the one. Of course, being the compulsively angry, stuck up, sociopathic-insanity-wielding, drill sergeant that he is, Selic _immediately_ attacked what he thought was an ape. Now, they were locked in a heated, ridiculously one sided battle for 'survival.'

 _Obviously_ , Selic was winning, but, Ellix had decided that he wasn't going to judge the winner on who was the last standing, because that would be too ordinary. No, instead, he just wanted to see how long his traveling companion would last against a seasoned war veteran. Surprisingly, Selic's 'combatant' had managed to dodge the first attack, and the second, and third, and continued to avoid the icicles up to the eighth one! Wait, correction. Selic managed to get _two_ hits off, and they were pretty pathetic ones! One just under the creature's left arm, which, from what he could tell, had made a small cut, and one on the 'ape's' right hip. But after that, and a few other similarly ineffective attacks, Selic had literally devolved to attempted raming! Which _failed_ nonetheless.

The best part was that his little friend wasn't dodging Selic's attacks by all that much. At most, the ape would only avoid the strikes by, maybe an _inch_ or two. Yet despite these impossibly close calls, Selic could _not_ for the life of him hit the ape. It was like the strange creature was being empowered by some otherworldly force, like the ancestors themselves had this thing's back. Even then, the power of the gods can only go so far, some of this _had_ to be the apes doing. But even _then_! Of all the apes that Ellix had seen and _fought_ , none of them possessed anywhere near the reflexive capabilities that this foreign creature did. Strangely enough, the first attack was the one that missed by the most. Selic had yet to even fired the damn missile before the bipedal creature stepped to the side, acting as if it was the most obvious thing in the world! Selic had _training_ on this! Every boring as fuck story he would tell would involve his ' _lightning fast reflexes'_ , ' _eagle eyes_ ', and ability to ' _fake out_ ' his opponents. But this thing made him look like a hatchling who was just learning about their element!

And that was just the first _eight_ attacks. Next Selic tried an Ice Storm. Which- _not_ _surprisingly_ \- failed! The ice veteran had even used the previous missiles of crystal to trapped the fucking thing in a _fence of razor death_ , something Ellix himself had never seen Selic do, and _still_ failed to kill it! The damn thing had used the object it was carrying to _block_ the snow storm. To _block it_! What the fuck!? Ellix had to give the damn ape props for even considering that a viable survival tactic. But actually being able to pull it off? That, right there! Is why Ellix envied opposable thumbs. Every other creature in the Dragon Realms had them, _except_ dragons. Yup, good job evolution! Give the dominant species a disability.

Still, it took more than just the wonder of thumbs to accomplish that feat. It also took quick thinking and resourcefulness, two things that apes did not or have very little of. However, the ape blocking Selic snowstorm wasn't the best part, it was what happened next that really got Ellix laughing. Less than a second after the ape had gotten up from avoiding the ice storm, Selic fired _another_ missile, probably hoping to catch the thing off guard. But having those _actually_ lightning reflexes that this ape apparently had, it once again avoided the spear, by blocking it with the now _frozen_ bag! It wasn't the fact that the ape was sent flying back and _bounced_ off of the ice mound by the impact that caused Ellix to laugh, it was Selic's _face_! The utter disbelief that plastered his expression was enough to send Ellix into a forcibly muffled fit.

And this was just one of these damn things! Imagine in there were more! From what Ellix could figure out from regular apes, is that they worked _better_ in packs. That didn't mean they worked well, just better. If you were to take one ape and thoroughly look it over. One would most likely find it to be unintelligent, unresourceful, strong, bad with its weapon, clumsy; cowardly in a stupid, suicidally brave way; greedy, and slightly _less_ perceptive than a bag of rocks. Now take all that and multiply it by ten, and there you have a pack of apes. The sad part was, that a pack of apes generally consisted of five to six. Where the extra stupidity comes from, no one really knew. However, this ape was _way_ more perceptive than a sack of rocks, was in no way clumsy, and clearly showed that it was resourceful. It _was_ bravely stupid, not that it took much to have that, _and_ it showed slight, _slight_ , signs of intelligence. Though, none of this really mattered to Ellix. He was just in it for the laughs.

Between the ape on the ground and Selic's trying to make sense of what just happened, he was drinking humor's fine wine. Then, like the last _nine_ times, Selic shot another icicle. At that point in time, Ellix held his breath, with a smile of course, waiting for the missile to make contact with something. Slightly more surprising than the last time, the ape dodged it, by spreading its legs. Ellix could care less, he was dying with laughter.

 _It just squeaked!_ And for the next ten seconds, his face was in his paws, attempting to control his breathing after hearing the most _ridiculously stupid_ sound come from an ape. He completely ignored the long flash of light and sound of the ape cursing more profanities. He became unappreciative of the sudden lack of sound on Selic's or the ape's part. He couldn't even focus on the blurred colors that could barely be seen through his mirth of tears. Not like anyone else could have noticed these things had they been _dying_! The best part was that he knew _why_ the ape had squeaked, and it made it all the more funny. Soon, his laughter was so intense that he started to become lightheaded, began wheezing, and fell out of the tree he was perched in, hitting the ground with a _thud_ , still laughing.

Now, he was laying down in the treeline, not too far from the battle, recovering from his latest breakdown. The combat had been occurring for about five minutes now, or at least what he assumed to be combat. Having controlled his laughter, Ellix was finally able to gaze upon the battlefield without creating his own squeaking. But as his eyes crossed the green expanse two things became apparent. The first being that he ape had vanished. Yeah, that's right, vanished. Where to? Well, knowing would defeat the purpose of vanishing wouldn't it!? The only things that stood in the meadow now were Selic and a pillar of ice not too far away from him in the… same spot… the ape was… ah, suddenly made more sense. So, from what Ellix could tell and from what he remembered during his uncontrollable chortling, the ape had taken cover behind the most recently shot spike in which Selic proceeded to freeze around him with a blizzard attack. Now, why the hell the ape had let Selic do that would forever remain a mystery and why the purple-spotted interest-fucker wasn't doing anything to follow up on the attack would lie on the list just underneath it.

Right as Ellix had finished rewriting his mental list of 'What the fuck, why's?' Selic decided that he was going to use his subconscious mind reading powers and take Ellix's advice, charging into the ice tomb. Ellix had no idea how the ape was trapped within the walls of ice, or if it was even in there to being with. What he did know was that it was funny as shit to watch Selic break his face over his own ice. But wait! Once Mr. Barrel-You-Over had completed his world tour, BAM! There it was! Crouching in the middle of the field like a fucking idiot. This confirmed one of two things. Either Selic was quite literally mentally retarded or this... _thing_...had just escaped from half-a-foot thick walls of ice. The first one wouldn't have been that surprising, considering it was Selic, no biased opinions here. The second, however… how could _that_ be possible?

Sadly, Ellix was given no time to contemplate his traveling companions unnatural skills due to Selic _continued_ failures. Namely, in the form of _more spears_. But to the great relief of his attention span, the attacking dragon did not continue this, and instead favored more blizzards. Yay, enthusiasm… and thus was the next several minutes. It essentially boiled down to this. Blizzard, fail. Spike, incredible fail. Another spike, another fail. Spike spike spike, fail fail fail! Spike? Fucking fail! An abrupt volley of miniature spikes... at least the thing was moving. Change direction, change direction, and again. Then finally, two larger icicles, one on each side of the ape. Meaning? Failure.

Suddenly, much to the surprised happiness of Ellix, Selic decided to use his signature and self-created move, the Glacial Tide. Personally, Ellix thought the attack was pointless to the level of waste. However, the tactics behind said move were extremely effective and more than earned his respect. The goal was not to necessarily hit the target, because that would be too easy. The point was to coat the ground in ice to extend the range of an attack that was basic to earth dragons, but beyond rare for others: a stalagmite, along with a few other attacks that Selic had made up on his own. While a ground spear on its own wasn't that impressive, being able to create them out of practically nothing, _anywhere_ in the immediate vicinity gave Selic a _massive_ advantage in combat. Being able to impale unexpecting enemies with little trouble and having complete zone control, making it perfect for large scale attacking. That, coupled with the fact that it was given to his element, one that already had an unnecessarily wide plethora of attacks, made it all the worse for opponents.

However, much to the shock of Ellix and from what he could tell, the ape, Selic put _way_ more power into the attack than he had ever discussed. Usually, when the old dragon spoke of the attack, he would state a distance like… twenty feet or thirty feet, not _three hundred_ feet. The thoroughly baffled white drake could do nothing but sit and stare. Despite how much he wanted to deny it or how much it went against his entire persona, a new respect for Selic's abilities formed within the instant and one thought came to his mind.

 _Holy… shit…_

And the thought was amplified ten-fold as the wave of ice that ensued across the field turned out to be nine feet high and didn't lose that height throughout its travel. Blinking his balking away, Ellix shot his eyes over to his ape partner just to see how it was going to handle this situation. To his utter disbelief, the thing was motionless. Uncontrollably, his maw fell open and his lips began to twitch. Nothing! Nothing!? That's its brilliant plan!? What happened to all the ingenuity and anatomy braking maneuvers from before!? Ellix was actually angry! He really expected more tha-... and now it's on its back. Just… wonderful!

So there he was. One paw out, pointing it at the _mentally ill fuckwit_ that was lying on its back, and the other placed against his temple in an attempt to reduce the stupidity induced headache. His posture didn't even change when the as the ape was slung into the air by the tidal wave of ice. Ellix even managed to keep his paw underneath the apes body as it reached its maximum height. The only thing that he could think about at the current moment was 'Why the hell would it even.' But in the back of his mind, Ellix felt like he was missing something. Something very important. Unfortunately, he was reminded in the manner of a nine-foot wall of ice crashing down upon his head.

With an uncharacteristically loud yelp, Ellix frantically activated his own powers, submerging himself in the realm of shadows and allowing the wall of snow to pass right through him. Not wanting to even touch the snow of the barbaric relative he turned to the nearest tree and scrambled up it. Once he had found a reasonably sturdy branch Ellix released himself and righted his vision. From his higher vantage point, he could see the ape. It seemed to be picking itself up after what he could tell was a long ass fall. How the hell it was even able to survive something like that was just out of the question, since Ellix himself was still slightly shaken from being close to consumed. However, he did notice that the creature was holding onto its right elbow, signifying it had hurt itself. This was enough information to at least get the polar colored dragon's sarcasm going again.

"Serves you right," Ellix stated caustically as he joined Selic in the 'Whose gaze could bore the deepest hole' compilation, "stupid shit." Even though he was disappointed in the apes failure-to-comply with danger, Ellix had to it some credit. If Selic had used that move against him, which he wouldn't doubt happening, he would waste _no_ time in getting the heck out. Shit like this was just scary. But apparently this feeling didn't carry over to the nimble bipedal, as it was just standing there glaring into the irises of his attacker; even after getting its ass handed to it. So either it was stupid or brave… or both, the two _were_ eternal lovers. Regardless, it was entertaining to watch it make a fool out of Selic, and oh how he loathed the fact that he didn't get to be the one doing it.

"Well, at least someone's showing him that he's not the all high and mighty _Captain_ that he thinks he is," Ellix commented quietly to himself, "but it's forgetting one thing." As he said this, Ellix could barely see the snow around the ape shift as Selic slammed his right paw down. Remember the whole ice stalagmite thing? Yeah, he seriously doubted the ape knew what that was. Meaning? Impalement! Which he was right about, and it seemed the ape suddenly had an epiphany as well. In less than a second, a single spear of ice shot up from the ground, stabbing directly through the ape's crouched area.

"There it is!" Ellix shouted with merriment, his eyes closing as they became filled with the tears of joy. Finally! The ape had gotten hit! And it only took Selic using his cheap shot move. Congratulations! You expert of ice! Haven't you proven your capabilities today! Now just wait until he got home to rub your ridiculous amount of _failures_ in your face! Bursting in anticipation! But lying here wasn't going to do him any good, and it certainly wasn't going to allow him the satisfaction of Selic's anger and embarrassment.

Standing up, stretching, yawning happened within the next second. Having been sitting in the same spot for some time, he had developed some kinks. During the process of muscle relief, he began to think of some things he would do now that he didn't have the impulse to follow the now deceased ape. After all, he still had a whole two weeks before he'd return to his family. Why waste it? Though he was a bit upset that Selic had killed his traveling buddy. From what he had seen so far it would have made a great servant, having hands add all, plus it didn't seem to have the 'rebellious' mentality. However, before any action on his part could be taken, a resonating _crack_ sounded from behind his closed eyes. Snapping his them open, Ellix could help but fall back down in shock at the _still_ continuing battle in front of him.

"What Ancestor!?" It had taken Ellix about five minutes to figure out that this, _thing_ , was flexible and had good reflexes. But under what circumstance! Was _anything_! Fast enough to avoid an attack like that! "This is bullshit!" he yelled with an incredulous ire, though neither of the two gladiators were unfocused enough to hear him.

Albeit reluctantly, Ellix righted himself and sat back down in the same position he had been in. From his vantage point, he could see the ape standing no more than a foot away from the same stalagmite that Ellix previously thought had killed it, only now there was a small spine sticking out from the ground spear that was inches away from removing the apes head. Strangely enough, it wasn't trying to run; it's posture was more of a disbelieving stare… idiot. Not too far away from the spear was Selic, unsurprisingly still bristling uncontrollably. He could easily tell that under the old dragon's layers of obvious anger there was a hint of absolute shock. Shock from what? Well, the inability to hit 'the weakest enemy' in his book, as well as the lack of fear on the apes part. Balls of granite or just too dumbstruck to care, either way, go badass ape!

Just as the thought left Ellix's mind, Selic decided that he wasn't going to deal with the apes shit anymore and proceed to detonate the stalagmite-like a trap. It was impressive, or would have been had he not seen this before. However, what was impressive was the bugger's fast-as-lightning reaction. It dodged that shit! How? The freaking thing fell on its rump! Out of all the humiliating ways one could avoid an attack that had to be the most unceremonious, and he didn't mean for the ape. To add onto the clown act that was being displayed for his viewing pleasure, the fumble was turned into a dead sprint; the ape _finally_ deciding that it was a good time to book it.

But Selic wasn't going to have any of it. No, he went and continued his armageddon from bellow and started to stab the open air for the next few minutes. Key words: open air. That's right, he missed… every… single… time. As in, _nine_ times! And that _didn't_ include the wall of the stuff the ape had almost ran into. The only way it managed to avoid the wall _and_ get a short break from Selic was due to the newest plan from his truly, ludicrously-good-at-problem-solving ape. Somehow, whether it be sheer dumb luck or the thing's attention to detail, it had figured out that, in this state, Selic uses his powers to sense depressions in the snow, allowing him to accurately pinpoint the location of his adversaries. It had used this sudden realization to construct a thought out plan in literally a second. The best part? It worked! Partially. It was able to avoid the wall, and was given a few seconds of rest, only for Selic to _open his eyes_! Bet no one thought of that! And shoot another spear of ice from his mouth.

At least this forced Selic out of his 'earth dragonesque' state. Not like that made the battle any more interesting, though, it just went back to the same boring, repetitive attacks again. The first being another blizzard from the maw of literal madness, as in anger… anger. This time, Ellix wasn't losing his shit over… nurturing. Instead, he had given the entirety of his focus to watching Selic attempt to freeze the ape within another coffin of ice, something he had missed the first time. Sadly, it looked like the ape was finally learning how Selic worked and was using its… pointy elbows… to shatter the ice as it formed around it. Effectively creating a small cove of ice in which it could seek shelter from the time being. It wasn't sad that the ape had gotten frozen, Ellix just wanted to see how it got out.

However, it looked like the ape wasn't the only one who was taking a break. Selic too was out of breath, evident by the way he was slouched over on his haunches. Now, there were two ways Ellix could take this. He could either understand why the old dragon was out of breath from the extremely extended fight. Or he could laugh at the failures of his most oppressive and insulting relative and point out his flaws in every way possible…

"Hah! Looks like being long winded doesn't help out of context!" Ellix quipped aloud, obviously not caring if they heard him anymore. However, his attention was drawn back to the icy barrier when his peripheral vision caught the blur of movement. Snapping back to his panicked partner, he could clearly see it at the edge of the wall. Ellix had to squint his eyes, just to make sure he wasn't seeing anything incorrectly. Yup, it was jumping. Not like an exercise jump, though that would have been just as stupid. No, it was hopping, like a hare. What? Why? What could possible be gained from this? Was it… was it trying to move? Escape maybe? If that was the case, then why the hell was it just _jumping_ there, unless it's...

"Oh, wow." It was afraid, or at least hesitant. That was something Ellix really didn't expect. How he had even thought about it, no idea. But why now? Why would it be scared shitless _now_? Did it finally realize where the hell it was? Or was the short rest it had received enough to knock it out of the combat mindset? Other than raise his eye-ridge, Ellix didn't react. Following this, he moved his attention back to Selic. Much to his own surprise, he found the old dragon fully recovered and raring to go. He mostly got the 'raring' part from the fact that the ice dragon had his maw wide open and was charging what he know to be a Singularity Splinter bomb; it being another one of Selic's made up moves.

"Holy overkill, Selic?" Ellix said aloud as he watched the ball of condensed snow sail over the make do shield and land on the other side of the icy wall. Luckily for the reverse-toned dragon, he lacked any snow for the bomb to suck in, meaning he couldn't get dragged into it. As for the ape… not so much. As the bomb went off Ellix covered his eyes with his wings, feeling the air around him suddenly heat up. Not from the insertion of warmer air, but from the removal of the cold. It was a jarring experience, and in all honestly, it _felt_ wrong. But once again, it was effective; it coupled with the snow shockwave from before, the two moves suddenly became even more devastating.

But all seriousness aside, when Ellix removed his wings from their covered up position he found the most obscure and _hilarious thing_ that had happened this entire time. Apparently, the thing decided that it would have been a good idea to cover its face with its forearms to protect its eyes from the ice. What it had forgotten, was that it was ice. Now, the ape was half frozen onto the inside curve of the fort with its arms stuck to its face. All in all, it was a _hoot_ , and Ellix was savoring every moment of it. To make it even better, the apes method of breaking itself free completely revolved around flailing and kicking. As well as mind-melting body-bending… but that was irrelevant, it was funny! Sadly, his delicious meal of entertainment came to an abrupt end, as Selic came barreling into the picture. Mimicking the elderly dragon's swipe with one paw and hitting an invisible wall, Ellix watched his interest go flying across the field and land back first on the ground.

"Is he down for the count?!" Ellix announced, half excited, half disappointed. However, when the heard the ancestors damn thing scream 'fuck' at the top of its lungs his face dropped. "No!" He yelled in minor disgust, ignoring the ape as it banged its head against the ground, "Of course it's not."

He was now considering the idea of this, _ape_ , even being able to die. Yeah, sure this was the first _actual_ … _damaging_ … non-massive-wave-of-snow hit that the thing had taken, but for the sake of everything that's living, _how long_ did it take? Selic was a _war veteran_. He had killed more apes during his time of service than Ellix would see in his life. If it took him that long to just land a solid hit, how long would it take to land a fatal blow? But back to the first thought, what hit could be considered fatal? It shook off a thirty foot fall for fucks sake! That kind of landing would be deadly to any creature- save for dragons, which were built to survive intense impacts. The most important question _now_ was what the ape was going to do after Selic had _finally_ managed to smack it.

"Oh damn Selic, you better prepare your fat ass," Ellix smiled wryly as his mind played through hundreds of possible ways the ape could just flat out kick the bastardly ice dragon's flank, and on top of it all, he would get to see it! But sadly, he greatly doubted that the ape could land a killing blow on the old mongrel, since it had no visible weapons. Luckily for Ellix, it doesn't hurt to hope.

However, his hopes of entertainment were dashed when Selic began to stalk towards the still downed ape, only for it to make no movement of any sort. Ellix adopted a goldfish-like stare and his mouth mimicked the behavior. Just going to lie there? Okay, sounds good. Because you know; not like there's a massive, blue, ice spitting _freak_ pounding his way to you or anything. Go ahead and have a lie-down! Sounds like a great time!

 _Idiot_.

Okay, maybe the sarcasm was unwarranted, and Ellix didn't really think he could have taken that smack any better, but seriously? It was second away from death and _now_ was the time for a nap? Though he couldn't see if it was _really_ sleeping from here. The only thing that was apparent was the heaving of his chest, a clear sign of labored breathing. Eventually, Selic was standing _right above_ the oblivious creature, and it stayed that way for at least three full seconds before the thing started to pick itself up. Ellix cringed at its rather unorthodox method of doing so, but at least it was up now! That's always a good way to die, not as… unheroic? He could barely see the ape from his current angle nor could he see Selic's face, but he knew that once the ape realized who was next to him, _then_ he would get squished.

Ellix had to admit, he wasn't exactly fond of Selic's jackassish tactic of waiting until seen to strike. Sure, there was some weird, twisted concept of 'honor' behind doing so, but that ass-of-an-ice-dragon wasn't really known for his commemorable acts, or at least from what he knew. Ellix himself wasn't really one for the whole 'honor' thing, but from his perspective, he'd rather not watch several tons of _fat_ rain down upon him. But due to all these negative thoughts on his part, it came as quite a shock when the ape he was so convinced would die ended up _dodging that shit_.

"...Wow…" The baffled monochrome drake blinked in astonishment as he watched his ridiculously agile associate weave around the first strike like a fish. Slippery bastards. Shaking away his shock Ellix attempted to process what he had just seen. Where the hell had it learn moves like that!? Yeah, it was dodging the icicles, but those were coming from a _distance_! Ellix himself could avoid stuff like that! But this was right up in its face! No reaction time! It wasn't even blocking them! Just flat out nope, going this way! Even with Selic using his previous swipes to amplify the speeds of the next, the ape seemed to do the same thing! Only with dodges, against unpredictable attacks! But even in his aghast state, Ellix's unconscious sarcasm was able to push forth into the outside world.

"Ancestors' sake, Selic! Are you really that terrible?" The degrading statement carried over the treetops. He had expected Selic to at least _hit_ the ape. Even though it was only the first swing, he was a _war veteran_! Training! It was apparently as useless as Ellix thought it was! To further back up his statement, his thoughts were interrupted as a loud _thud_ found its way to his ears, signifying the second swing. "Miss!" Ellix coughed, "Damn Selic, your failure is making me sick." But, of course, Selic heard nothing, removing the effect of the comment. However, Ellix was forced to take back most of his clandestine speeches when the aged icicle actually managed to land a major hit.

"Ooooh, ho ho ho..." In truth, Ellix wasn't very concerned for the apes safety- after all, why should he? It not like the thing had any sentimental value to him, other than a form of entertainment for the next two weeks, but he could find that from other sources. On top of that, he really didn't think that the ape would have a hard time taking this kind of hit. Yeah, it was a Tail Whip. Sure, it was from something many times its size. But just from where Selic had hit from and how it took the last punch he knew, or thought, that this should have been nothing. And to confirm his ideas the thing began to pick itself up.

Unfortunately, he was unable to see the full effect of the hit due to his angry relative's continued attack. From the looks of it, it seemed that the ape wouldn't be able to completely stand up before being struck. To make the situation even worse, for it, Selic proceeded to run forwards and fan his wings out- leaping into the air and gaining a higher vantage point on his quarry.

"So, it is now going to literally rain fat," Ellix commented lacklusterly as he watched his interpretation of obesity slowly glide over to the ape, who had just fallen over again.

This time, the ape _had_ to get hit. There was no way for it to know where Selic was, there was no way it could be faster than the gravity that would be soon acting upon the ice dragon, and there was _certainly_ no way it was going to survive the hit. But, yeah no… fuck that! It's not an ape! Why the hell was he still calling it that!? He seriously needed to find a better name, but what would he even call it!? What does this matter? Well, all of his listed conditions only applied to apes, and that, was _not_ , an ape! Right as Selic's fat came falling from the sky, the damn thing _threw_ itself to the side. Prediction master non-ape at your service! Just give said entity some inane level of crap to deal with and _poof_! No problem!

Regardless of Ellix's internal ranting, that didn't immediately make the thing ancestor of all. In fact, it meant absolutely nothing. Because rather than getting the fuck up and running for its life, the… eh... fuck it, _ape_ , chose to remain on its side. Obviously, this was the wrong choice, as a moment later, Selic finally became aware of yet _another_ one of his failures and attempted to correct it discreetly. Of course, Ellix saw this, not that it mattered at the time, he'd just call him out on it later. Despite all this, the old ice dragon went forth with his hit. But this was no normal swipe of a paw, Selic was _grabbing_ it. That one motion was enough to cause a hitch in the white-sided stalker. This was it, it was finally about to die.

But Selic apparently had other ideas, and instead of just crushing it within his pads, he lifted it up and _over_ his shoulder then chucked the thing as far as he could. Ellix was quiet and motionless for a few seconds, even if you took the meaning of the word bewildered had multiplied its effect _a hundred time_ , one still couldn't come close to how confused he was at the moment. What the _fuck_ was Selic doing? Why the hell did he not just kill it? How the heck did Selic bend his forearm that way!? That was unnatural! Ellix shivered as his mind replayed the sudden backwards turn that the blue paw had taken. All seriousness aside, what the _fuck_! Selic! Are you _actually_ mentally unstable!? Is killing something not in your limited list of shit you know how to do!? Was training _really that useless_!? You know what, was the war even an actual thing!? Because at this point everything that Selic had _ever_ said to him was up for ass ripping.

 _Or he isn't trying to kill it,_ Ellix mulled through his broken B.S. meter. It was a possibility, a possibility that only caused a frown to form across his muzzle.

"Almost like he's-," and the realization hit him and his face fell to disgust and his eyes widened. "Really Selic! You've fallen that low!" At first, the battle, to Ellix, was just another thing to judge the apes performance and its ways of handling things. After awhile, he just stayed around for the laughs. Now, now he was just disgusted. Selic had done some pretty cruel things in his life, some of which he wasn't willing to share, but this! There has to be some kind of rule against this! Some kind of moral law or a military contract that prevented this kind of thing!

He was playing with it! Selic had gotten so pissed at the thing that as soon as he had landed the first hit he turned it into a _game_. A game in which the opposing team couldn't win. This was torture! Ellix knew that torture was allowed to extract information from prisoners of war, but not for entertainment! He was not okay with this. Yeah, at first he thought it was funny, like two knights fighting each other for their king, but this!

However, he was interrupted when another 'attack' by Selic made its appearance. This time, he attempted to crush, or in this case, hold down, the ape with his right paw. Ellix's heartbeat began to quicken. Why he was getting so worked up over this, he had no idea. It could have been his sympathy for the creature and the last twenty minutes of its life, or it could be his unbridled hatred for the ice fuck and that had taken a turn for the exponential in the last minute. Back on point, Selic could just flat-out crush the ape right now, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Upon hearing the apes cries of pain, his stance began to shift. This was making him _very_ uncomfortable, discovering that not only was one of his near family members, someone who slept in the _same area_ as himself, was a cold-blooded sadist, but he was willing to do it to things that couldn't even fight back. At this point, Ellix had fully taken the side of the miserable creature. No longer was he entertained from the fighting, nor was he going to continue viewing it as such. In fact, Ellix was disgusted that he would even have considered this enjoyable in the first place!

However, Ellix was knocked out of his troubled musing by the unfocused struggling of the ape. Pity, was something that the black and white dragon was relatively unaccustomed to, yet despite having this uncommon feeling well up inside him, he didn't attempt to pass it off. Rather, he embraced it. Ellix's emotional bank only continued to fill as the pinned creature finally called out to Selic, demanding the one question that he actually knew the answer to.

'Why are you attacking me!' As the notes ran their course through his mind, more and more started to become clear to the definitively greyscale dragon. All the things that had previously been directed at Selic now turned to the mammal underneath him. This thing _didn't_ know anything about killing. It knew _nothing_ of the war between its supposed species and his own. Heck, it probably didn't never know what a dragon was! That was most likely the cause of most of its 'failures' from hours before. Not that it was a useless waste of energy, but that it didn't have to waste its energy on _this_. Every action, every solution, every word; it all suddenly made sense. But there Selic was! Fucking shit up again!

Unfortunately, Ellix was unable to act from his distance. He actually _wanted_ to help! A very rare- not something he bestowed upon everyone- commodity! However, had the black-bellied drake been able to do something, he would have been cut off by Selic's rather ironic reply. Upon hearing the fiendish magnate's words, he felt a strange yet justified rage rise within himself; almost like it was he who was trapped underneath the dragon's paw. Not only that, but it got his witty sarcasm fired up again.

 _That's rich, Selic,_ Ellix began in an anger-induced rant. _What's pathetic is you have forgotten every moral they taught you during your time with the guard. How you literally became the definition of the enemy you were fighting. And how you actually let your and anger rage control your actions like the weak-willed dragon that you are,_ concluding his miffed thoughts with a snort.

Coincidentally enough, as his own thoughts finished, the ape itself came up with its own, more intensively verbal version of his monologue. It was like the song of the sirens to his ears. Everything Ellix wished he could say to the dastardly dimwitted dragon came spewing out of the rather inappropriately placed creature. It had completely turned the forefront of the battle to its side and now _Selic_ was the defense, albeit mental defense, but a bad position nonetheless! But that wasn't the best part. The way the ape held its expression, even in the face of Selic's bared teeth. It just made him feel so ecstatic to see something that could be considered weak verbal abuse a nightmarish like individual! However, as the ape neared what Ellix presumed was the end of the speech, it said something that really, deeply caught his attention.

 _It threatened him!_ The exclamation was joined with wide eyes and an agape maw. All the thoughts of this ape beating the ever living shit out of Selic's purple blemished ass came back to mind. Looks like his prediction was _not_ an understatement nor a joke. Though Ellix still doubted that it could do any damage to the older family member, again, having no visible weapons. But just as the thought crossed the mental road of success versus failure in his mind, the ape shot it right down. Before Ellix could even contemplate the action, the same hand was lifted above the paw of Selic and a faint shimmer met his eyes.

 _Fucking WHAT!_ He internally yelled as the blade was shot down into the paw of his most hated relative. The word 'shock' was completely removed from Ellix's vocabulary at that point in time. Instead, words and phrases more along the lines of ' _non-threatening traumatization_ ', ' _stupefaction_ ', and _'a pile of unsullied consternation_ ' filled the air around him. What he had just witnessed, was something that he had wished for, for the past _fifteen years_. Something that could finally remove Selic's overbearing ego. Anything that he could just look down at and go 'I'm worthless.' A thing that he could tease the _absolute shit_ out of him about! And his _friend_ had delivered! As Ellix watched his new best bud dangle from the handle of its knife a half smirk, half flycatcher-like look adorned his muzzle, and his joy finally broken free.

"Take that you ancestors' damned egomaniac!" Ellix spouted with no regard to the ears of his stalking victims. Out of sheer happiness, he thrust his right paw out in front of him. Sadly, in his state of clouded perceptiveness, he was unable to properly commit to the action, as well as forgetting where he currently was. In the wave of sudden imbalance that ensued, Ellix found himself tipping to the left side. With a yelp of surprise, he quickly dropped his respective paw back to the tree branch and dug his claws into it. Unfortunately, this only succeed in his own self-hanging, and for the next few seconds, he stayed dangling from his previously chosen perch. Looking down to the ground, his smile faded. Of course the ground would be too close to allow his wings time to open. So with an irked huff, he released his grip.

 _Thud_...

Letting out a quiet groan, the white-headed dragon flipped onto his stomach and shook his body, only to get an eye full of flying bodies. Any sense of pain that had been formerly apparent within him instantly vanished as the creature he had just recently named his official associate came crashing to the ground a mere twenty feet away from him. Not too many times has Ellix ever had that 'oh, shit' moment in his life been so obvious. Whatever he had just missed was certainly _not_ something that bears repeating, and his only became more self-evident when the bag belonged to his friend came down a few feet away from it. Right then and there, Ellix wanted to dash out from the bush, snatch up the downed mammal, and just run off. However, with Selic that close and the stories of 'Ellix, the Ape Saver' filling his conscious, he chose against it. But that didn't stop a wave of guilty from washing over him as he watched the creature reach its bloody and possibly broken body out; it seemingly tried to reach its possessions.

 _WAM!_

 _CRACK!_

If there was a contest for the best disbelieving stare, the judges would have to disqualify Ellix just for showing up. Remember, that idea from before? The one about _possibly_ broken body parts! Yeah! Remember that!? Well fuck that as an _idea_! How about making that a reality! Selic! You ancestral twat! At least the ape was taking it well! Right! Hopefully! It wasn't moving! Not exactly blinking either! Also no screaming! Is it even fucking alive! Yes! It is! That was a move! Good! Even though Ellix's brain was currently the battleground between grief and hatred, one thing was enough to crack the shell and release his mind: Selic and his ancestors' damned _tail blade_ hovering inches away from the ap-... fuck it, shit's too crazy! From the apes neck! He was _done_ playing around!

However, it seemed that Selic's prisoner had figured that out as well. How it was still able to fight back, or even stay conscious with all was a complete mystery to him. Though, in truth, the injuries weren't that bad, aside from the broken forearm, he was just giving it the benefit of the doubt. Selic on the other hand, was _not_ doing anything in the way of doubting and just straight up started applying pressure, in the form of sword on flesh. Ellix held his breath, thinking that the ape was really, _really_ going to get it this time. But just like the last time, Selic let up- once again favoring to tease his prey into their death. Luckily for the devilish dragon, he got what he wanted: a reaction. The ape started to struggle with its only available arm. Not like it accomplished much, maybe moving the massive icy paw an inch at most and a few creepy snorts from Selic. But that was just the start of it! As less than a second later, the thoroughly pinned and unable to defend itself creature went ahead and _spat_ , on its captors paw.

Ellix couldn't help but gain more satisfaction in his colleague's actions. They were justified, symbolic, and _completely_ out of place. But none of this actually mattered, as less than a second later Selic began to re-lower his weapon of choice. Right then and there, Ellix was sent into a frenzy of possible ideas for rescue. That was his predicament, though, he could do nothing without revealing himself to Selic, and thus ruining his totally meaningless yet allegorical reputation with his family. His life over another in a sense.

 _Fuck, fuck, FUCK!_ He screamed in subconscious exasperation. His eyes darting around the light lacking patch of snow that both Selic and his friend were placed in. _I will not! Let you take…_ and he stopped. Slowly, a sly grin formed on his muzzle and his body flared up with power. Why stop Selic from murdering his buddy when he could just take the blue dragon's prize instead?

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Krathnic: *cough cough* Ah, well! I have retrogressed to a sufficiently conventional state of vocal existence. Or rather, I've dropped the Scottish accent. It really hurts my throat.**

 **Aetheo: Good.**

 **Well that is definitely an improvement. But sadly, I need to drop out of the A/N's for this… need to finish something.**

 **...**

 **HE'S GONE! I CAN NOW HIJACK THE AUTHOR POSITION AND SAY LOADS OF BAD THINGS TO RUIN HIS- UH- WELL MY REPUTATION!**

 **Or rather, we both can. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAck *cough* *cough* *Wheeeeze***

 **Quick, rewrite the story to make it super cheesy and cringey. We'll make it about Sanic or something. Oh, it can be all romantic, but like in a way that a eleven year old would write so it is really far from reality and is just some perverted Freudian slip. It can be an OC insert and we can sell Sanic body pillows and make loads of money off lonely asocial pre-teens.**

 **Oh yes. Then, We'll change all the character names, make it all erotica, then sell it to the ever-expanding market of animal porn consumers.**

 **And it will be Fifty Shades of Grey-esque so we can get the impossibly massive market of middle aged women as well, we'll get so much money from the films. BDSM Sonic erotica, I love it.**

 **(Saaanic) Ohyeah. Then, we make sequels, bringing in so many characters from so many different genres that we have an impossible amalgamation of clusterfucking in the literal sense, sell it to a Disney offshoot company, and make loads of money off of cheap toys and sex paraphernalia.**

 **We are literally hitting every demographic with this. Where are the investors when you need them?**

 **Disembodied Voice: Everywheeeeeeeereeee…..**

 **Aw sweet! All we need is a small loan of a million dollars and we'll be good to go!**


	9. Third Life's A Charm

**A/N:**

 **HEEEEEEEEEEEEY GUUUUYS! How's it goin'? Good? Well, that's nice. Glad I asked. So, here we have it! Kein, in the most unnatural habitat that he could possibly be in! Alright, so I hope most of you know about what I asked last chapter. Once again, I ask the same thing. I'm not going to repeat it! Just want to double inform if you all would. Anyways, I couldn't do it here anyways. No follow up.**

 **Good. No one wanted you to inphorm us again anyways.**

 **Aetheo…. put your damn label back…**

 **Aetheo: Oops. Well, phuck it. It's not like you're being oppressive or anything.**

 **And what's with the 'ph?' Or are you just…**

 **Aetheo: Well, you wouldn't let me replace every "f" with "ph" so I've taken it upon myselph to do so phor a while.**

 **And thank God for that. It'd get annoying really fast.**

 **Aetheo: You mean "phast"?**

 **No… I… I don't. I mean fast. As in speed. You know what? Whatever, I actually don't care. We just need to do the disclaimer and get it over with...**

 **Aetheo: Well, we do need to come up with** _ **some**_ **thing. And phast, iph we don't want this inphringing on the rest oph the night.**

 **Yeah, we do. But in what way? I mean, I haven't really thought of a new one… with finals and all…**

 **Aetheo: And Phinals somehow make you phorget how to tell them that we own only your original content?**

 **Yeah… somehow. It's pretty obvious what's mine in the first place. Clearly Kein isn't going anywhere special and Ellix is just a dick. Everyone else hasn't really had much time to shine sooo… I couldn't even own the actual game if I wanted.**

 **Aetheo: Phor repherence, the dragon race is one oph those not-owned things.**

 **Well I guess that would be because the idea is so general. You can't really own a concept. Anyways, enough debating, we need to do the disclaimer…**

…

 **Wait...**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Third Life's a Charm**

Kein was enveloped by darkness. He felt nothing, not his head nor his chest nor, truthfully, any of his arms, legs, digits… nothing at all. His whole body just was numb to the point where he could no longer feel any of it! Not really what he was expecting, given the circumstances… if he could remember what those were. His thoughts were a clouded mess of rainforest overcast to put it plainly. Somehow, his brain had also been, _numbed_ , and his senses along with it. He couldn't think, or at least had a hard time holding a thought together. In all honesty, the only thing he was really aware of was the subtle _swish_ of wind as it passed by his ears and cheeks, but not the rest of his body. Adding onto that, if the wind itself was indeed the cause of the sound, the chill it usually brought with it was nonexistent- save for his cheeks once again, meaning that all he felt was a rather comfortable lukewarm temperature. It _really seemed_ as if he was just a head... which didn't make any sense, considering he just had his head impaled by a massive, blue, ice breathing monster that could speak… right?

All at once, Kein regained his sense of existence. His mind cleared the fog it had been encased in, though the rest of his body remained unchanged. It took him about ten seconds to fully realize that he couldn't feel his own breathing, and his body's first reaction was the most simple thing it could have done: Right arm, up!

Nothing.

This really started to get the gears turning. Just for sheer measure, Kein tried to lift his arm again, only to find the same lack of reaction. He paused for a moment, this attention half locked between why he couldn't move his arm and why he couldn't feel his breathing. Of course, the latter was more important, but when one is in a state of complete and utter unfeeling, all problems become equal problems. Why? Because he couldn't tell the difference between them. Despite Kein's state of physical confusion, his body still knew what it needed, and one way or another, it was going to get it. With less permission than the last time, his arm once again did absolutely nothing and remained still.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Kein knew that something was wrong. Not the fact that he couldn't feel any part of his body other than his cheeks, nor that- despite his best efforts- he couldn't straighten his mind. No, it was something else, something more primal, more necessary, more involuntary. Then, it clicked… he wasn't breathing… _at all_.

If panic could be described in two words, they would be Kein Madalis. The panic he felt now was greater than the way he felt on the first day of the first job he had ever gotten. His mind immediately went into 'flip shit' mode- all thought that previously existed instantly being snuffed out by the fire extinguisher of suffocation. His inner eye widened past its mental limits and the outside world burst into vision, only to be ignored in favor of looking down to his nose. His mind struggling panic only intensified when he found absolutely _nothing_ obstructing it.

Having not the capabilities to physically flail around, Kein closed his eyes and his mind build him an accurate version of himself- clearly being the most proper thing to do- and used that to portray his current situation. In his head, he was slapping his face with his working hands, only to find nothing there, again. To further 'prove' that indeed nothing was blocking his airway, his inner mini-me stuck a finger up its nose. Not something he'd do normally, but in your mind, everything is okay. Upon yet another failure, mini-Kein doubled over and punched himself right in the gut. Having been a mental projection, it felt no pain, but on top of feeling no pain, nothing came out of its mouth, meaning that Kein was still suffocating. Suddenly, Kein's mental apparition disappeared, leaving him with his own thoughts and a severe a case oxygen deprivation. His mind entered the same clouded state as before, the mental barriers he had set up failed, the thoughts of clearing his nose vanished, and the numbness of his body was replaced by numbness of the mind. It was safe to say, he was going to die.

However, fate would not have it. With a sudden jolt, Kein was snapped back to consciousness. As if powering up like a machine, the first few moments of his time were spent making sure that all of him was there. After which he proceeded to check over his body, only to find the same numbed state of nothingness. It took him a moment to remember what had just transpired. He had almost suffocated, on nothing. It took him almost twice as long to discover why, he still couldn't feel his own breath, but he certainly wasn't deprived of oxygen. With a small mental sigh, and slap, the first thought of the moment occurred.

 _Damn, reverse-psychology of the mind._ He was thinking about breathing, and everyone knows what that does! The only reason he wasn't once again killing himself was that he was actually _fully_ aware and not panicking. Still, he was trying very hard to _not_ think about the involuntary action of breathing, so to avoid the last incident. Kein let off a noiseless sigh but ended up surprising himself with the lack of sound. Blinking the shock away, he regained his composure and finally began to analyze his position. He was lying down… or standing. _Shit._

He actually had _no way_ of judging his body's current posture, due to the fact that he literally couldn't feel it. Upon realizing this, again, he relaxed. Relax, of course, being a loose term. His body remained motionless, and he didn't make any more attempts to move it. Instead, he pushed the brunt of his focus into figuring out what the hell happened. Kein remembered the first- though, in this case, second- thing that had entered his mind upon walking up, the ice monster. A scaled beast with wings, horns, claws, and the ability to sling ice at him. Even when replayed in his mind, it seemed like a fantasy creature, something born out of the imagination of a madman. Kein knew that he was not insane… or at least he didn't think he was. He didn't see or hear things that weren't there, usually, nor did he have an unnatural urge to defend himself against every little thing. But if he looked back before the fight and recalled his whole dream theory from before, could he really say that he wasn't insane?

Of course, that only applied if this whole world was _indeed_ a dream, if not… well, at that point anything is up for grabs. But in disregard to all of this, he had been attacked, whether or not an impossible animal was the cause of it, and he had the injuries to show for it… or, wait… And the problem looped back. He had _no_ idea if he really was wounded at all; he couldn't feel _anything_ save for his face! For all he could know, this really could have been a sick, vivid dream and that his own mind envisioned him getting attacked and injured. If it wasn't a dream then… ouch? He couldn't feel anything, so… he guessed it would hurt. This brings the numbness into play. Why was it a thing? There were two real possibilities, one pertaining to dreaming and one not. The dreaming idea was that he had woken up, and to compensate for the idea of mental pain, his body just went numb… or that he had somehow caused his entire body to fall asleep at once. Then there was the non-dream idea. He remembered that the creature's attacks could numb any part of his body on contact, so he could have just gotten bodychecked by an icy rugby player.

 _But… wait. Didn't I die?_ It was a strange thing to envision, and not something a sane person would do, but given the circumstances, he permitted it. Adding onto the list of things he remembered: being trapped under the two-toed paw of the frost creature and having its swordtail brought down upon his face… totally not insane, but there was some irony in this. It was now technically his second time 'waking up' after a life-threatening situation, only for death to once again be a possibility. However, there was again, two different opinions to this. It was a dream or it wasn't.

He really, _really_ , wanted to call this a dream. It all lined up. He got knocked out, thrust into a naturalized version of candyland, proceed to find the most inane thing in existance, and get _killed_ by it, only to wake up still on the stone he was passed out on. Sure, the numbness was weird, but hey, the body's got to think of something. Okay, establishing that this was indeed a dream, he was on the stone _lying down_. Easily enough information to get him started. Luckily, while he was thinking, some of the numbness had faded. It wasn't enough to move his body, but it was enough to allow motion in his face.

However, before he could go and open his eyes they were lit up for him. Being suddenly interrupted, Kein did the only thing he could: nothing. He did not want to open his eyes, mainly due to the one thought that he hadn't- or didn't want to- address. It boiled down to this: rather than killing him, the frost fucker had just smacked him in the forehead with the flat of the blade and knocked him out, then it proceeded to cover him in ice and leave him there to freeze. Sadly, there was no way he was going to find out just lying… or standing… or freezing there.

Slowly, he cracked his eyes open. Having been shut for so long there was a bit of fuzz on the edges of his vision, but with a simple blink, it was cleared. Out of pure habit, he shut his eyes once more, expecting the harsh light to invade his weakened irises. However, no such sting came. Out of shock, Kein shot his eyelids open, completely disregarding any thoughts from before. He cringed upon realizing what he had done, but once again relaxed when no pain came. The state of agitation came back less than a moment later, but not before he released a relieved sigh.

There was nothing above him but sky. In that instant, Kein thanked whatever god was watching over him. Yeah, the same god that watched him suffer for nearly twenty minutes, but they at least saved him. However, this is where the problem came in. There was nothing above him, but the _sky_. Doesn't seem that unusual… until you add the fact that the sky was gray. Before he could even begin to comprehend what caused this utterly unnatural color, the light- and therefore, the sky- disappeared.

However, as quickly as it left, the light returned, allowing him another clear view of the sky's… 'beauty.' A lot of strange and unexplainable things have happened within the last twenty-four hours. He's eaten unknown things, drank unknown liquids; scaled trees, shredded testicles; climbed rock faces, smacked his shins; crossed a river, wet himself; was lost in thought, flipped his shit, dodged impressively, _died_ … probably. But this!? The sky! Changing its color! That had to be second on the list of 'What I Will See on My Impromptu Camping Trip!'

 _This shit's getting ridiculous... as if it already wasn't._ AThe light vanished again, but when it returned, he was met with the same grey sky as before. Kein simply stared into the never ending void of grey, barely even thinking about what had transpired mere minutes before. Not that the memories had actually vanished, just they weren't as prominent or demanding of immediate attention. Strangely enough, he found the neutral grey of the sky oddly calming. No bright colors burning his mind with their glows, no texture differences between the colors and the blue ocean, no need to be concerned about the position of the sun… not being attacked... It was, in reality, what he wished for almost every day. The chance to have time to himself. Even though he did get some time back at home, it was usually when the twins had disappeared for the week and it was around one in the morning. In truth, not really free time versus time that just exists and doesn't have something in his schedule to fill it up. This, as well, wasn't free time, considering what had happened, but at least he didn't have anything to worry about… maybe.

Despite the half and half situation, Kein couldn't help but get lulled into a daze by the mix of paresthesia and neutral colors. His attention was lost and the world blurred into a haze where only his mind existed within the expansive void. Of course this was only in his mind, meaning that the sky continued to flash in and out of existence. Sometimes it would half disappear or there'd be a strange opacity that allowed him to see it, only more blurry. Eventually, his mind found its place again and his thoughts darted back to the still-grey sky, though he would have preferred the unfocus from before. So with nothing to do he just… stared, lulled but awake. It was actually really annoying. It had been, about one minute since he had straightened his thoughts, and Kein had no idea how long he had been out of it. But regardless the constant bursts of light with interludes of lightlessness were starting to get on his nerves. However, he could do nothing about it, instead he only wished for it to stop so he could move on with his now stupidly exciting 'life.' Abruptly Kein began to blink rapidly, as if he was trying to clear something from his eyes. During that desire for forward progression and meaning a sudden thought crossed his mind: Was he moving?

With this new thought in him, Kein lazily rolled his head to one side, and as his surroundings came into focus his eyes widened. It was like some scene out of a black and white movie. Even though his eyesight was slightly more blurred than necessary, he could tell that _everything_ was some shade of gray. Long stalks shot up from the ground. These, he presumed to be some sort of tree, while slightly darker blobs of mush that surrounded them would, therefore, be bushes. That didn't matter, however; what mattered was that they were rushing past his face at an alarming rate.

Yes, he was. That is definitely motion. But what did that matter to Kein? He couldn't move, so the only thing he really could do was envy the running blobs… Blob plants don't run… okay well, maybe those do, he didn't actually know, but regular plants don't! The plant code didn't necessarily apply to blob-plants! But the plant code prohibited motion that living things could register, so if they weren't moving, that meant _he_ was. However, all this new information was promptly disregarded in favor of attention to detail. Having the burning itch to examine each and every new thing encountered wasn't usually a habit Kein would partake in, and was something he had almost been broken out of. With the addition of Sir Ice-and-Snow: Attacker of all Things Warm, he was less inclined to even think about it. But this! This new world! It was just too much.

However, even though this newer world was, well, more new and interesting, one thought invaded Kein's mind. If this was death, than holy crap. It. Was. _Boring_. But really, if this is the best that God could come up with for the afterlife- not saying that he was religious- then wow, he could afford to hire some concept artists. Just... grey, black, and light grey. Not even white was present in the shadowy forest that he now… 'flew' across. Just grayscale and monochrome. And now that his vision had cleared a bit more, Kein found that things actually _had_ texture, everything was just so visually _bland_ that you couldn't see it without nearing the object, as every couple seconds a bush would pass mere centimeters from his face. To top it all off, the black shapes that comprised most of the plants were actually _very_ sharp and _very_ clean, and not the blobs he had once thought, though he blamed this on his still-adjusting eyes. However, these sharp line only seemed like a front layer, due to the fact that _everything_ in this strange place had a slight flowing glow to it. Of course this glow was _grey_ , but it was there.

Another thing that surprised him was that these inky plants _did_ move, but not in the way he'd first thought. This idea lead him to believe that these plants were in fact _alive_ despite every other thing in this world proving otherwise: the color, the sharpness, the _glow_. All of which here _unnatural_ for plants. However, he could clearly see leaves twist and branches bent in the non-existent wind- not something dead plants would do- as they whipped past him. And there was _another_ ridiculously incorrect thing that this world seemed to be okay with, no wind, and with that, came no sound. Even though Kein had realized this before, he had payed it no attention. Never, had Kein ever! Heard nothing! Truly nothing. The closest he had gotten was when the twins lit a firecracker near his ear, even then there was an annoying ring. But nothing really made sense at the moment, so he just ignored the facts that were screaming in his face and let the bushes fly by.

Once again, he felt like he was just watching a black and white movie. He was just lying there, waiting for some white text to appear at the bottom of his vision narrating the absolutely _amazing_ time he was having. The _oh_ -so- _interesting_ trees and bushes with the clear and gray sky and _ridiculous_ monotone speed at which he was moving. Such a riveting experience! It didn't even matter if he was _magically_ flying at this point, it was boring! For christ's sake! He was a sketchbook artist! He _only_ worked in black and white! Yet he was practically lulled to sleep by their sheer repetitiveness of the background that he was forced to look at. However, his own thoughts processes worked against his sanity, preventing him from dozing off.

Throughout the quick and repetitive motion which he was traveling at, one thing became apparent. He wasn't flying… or hovering, or moving in a way that he would remain stiff as a board. Even though his body was completely numb, he could tell by the way everything in his sight was bouncing in sync. Every second the trees and bushes in his vision would rise, fall, then repeat. Occasionally the terrain would change and he would be going uphill or downhill, but that only made it worst. Being able to see the foliage jerk around like something was tearing it from the ground then shaking all the dirt off the roots and throwing said plants to the moon was more then enough of an indicator that he was _not_ floating. Therefore, it was very clear that the ride wasn't smooth, if anything, it was like he was bouncing between two trampolines, or that something was carrying him.

 _Wait, carrying?_ This new concept, he didn't like. Being carried through a forest having no control over where he's going after almost or definitely dying to the hands of a monster _did not_ bode well with his sanity. There were not a lot of things that Kein knew about that could carry other things _without_ dragging them. However, he did just witness a creature that was _not_ bipedal carrying a bag, filled with... meat. If he was being carried by that goddamn blue bastard then he might as well just die, again, on the spot! Though he was clearly _not_ in a bag, or at least not a closed one. But that didn't stop the thing from carrying him on its back!

Kein couldn't decide whether to be pissed or scared out of his damn mind. He had already been through the whole depressing death thoughts so that didn't need to be run through again, but the fact that he could die _again_ was just unnerving to him. Though the irony of this being his technical _third_ life was just making things even more difficult. Still he might as well try and use this chance to do _something_ without fucking up. However, it didn't matter because he was numb in a world of black and could do nothing.

Suddenly, Kein laughed, and though no sound came out, he could tell from the motion that _something_ was happening. His entire thought process was nothing more than an emotion stew, there was so much stuff in the goddamn bowl that he didn't know where to start! There were so maying things he could be doing, but hey, how about we screw that and do nothing. Joke! He was _not_ going to just float or be carried to wherever he was going to get slaughtered by the same shit-faced monster that killed him before. So with newfound determination, Kein gathered up every last fiber of energy that he could possibly muster and did the only thing he could do: He rolled his head to the left.

However, as his vision refocused on the world he immediately regretted it. During the last train of thought went so gloriously off the rails and into the never-ending Abyss of Doom, he had completely forgotten that he was _not_ in the world of color but instead in the world of D.O.A. But that was unimportant, what was more dire than the strange and unknowingly unpredictable world was the fact that he was now somehow staring into the _neverending void of eternal darkness_.

Kein just lay there, petrified at the sight lying before his eyes. This, _thing_ , was the darkest thing he had even seen. Darker than the darkest tunnel. More black than the depths of space. More strangely consuming that a black hole or the twins lust for the same fast food restaurant. This _was_ the eternal night! This was terrifying! This was death! More dead than he was! The unnerving feeling of blindness that the darkness brought with it only amplifying the feeling and causing his hair to stand on end.

Slowly, Kein moved his head back to face the sky- maybe with wide eyes, possibly paired with a twitching lip. What felt like an eternity to Kein was only a couple seconds to everything else. Daring to recall the disturbing image that had been placed for his viewing pleasure, he could only imagine the blackness. Saying it in the way he was made it seem like this was a new evil. Like there was a way to battle this darkness. Now, this evil was only meters away from his face, and there was no way to tell it if was getting closer. Once again, irony. He was just killed by a blue monster and he's afraid of the dark? Still, no one was there to judge, so he could be as stunned as he wanted.

But regardless of this newfound terror, Kein's curiosity got the better of him, and with the flick of the head, he was once again looking to the left. However, once the motion blur had faded, he was met with nothing but plants. Dark, glowing, wavy plants. Kein was confused, dare he say, astounded? So, darkness can move! Well, great. Now the rest of the world is fucked. But pushing all negative comments aside, he found there to be a great and strangely unwavering sense of relief with this new fact. The _neverending void of eternal darkness_ has left! Joy to the world, praise Jesus, and look both ways before you cross! Clearly, he was unnaturally happy for this, but considering his mind had decided that his second most powerful fear would be said _neverending void of eternal darkness_ , who could blame him.

However, before any celebratory cocktails could be made, Kein noticed something out the corner of his eye. As the new object came into view, his cheer stopped- eyes locked with the new patch of… _darkness_. This one was a little baby darkness though, not even a quarter the size of the terror before, but it was not alone. Less than a second later, another, slightly larger, patch of black shadow appeared in his vision. Than another, and another, until there was a practical _rainbow_ of blackness covering his vision, all strangely angled away from him with faded tops. A supposedly cold sweat found its way to Kein's brow, and his facial features probably trembled at the sight laid before him. It was an army! An army of eternal nights! The first patch of blackness was the brood mother! Directing her hatchlings towards the stupidly unprotected city. Their ultimate goal to unleash death and destruction across the world, that... they, practically were! It made so much sense!

Then, Kein slapped himself. Did he really? _Really_! Just make this into a retro game? Since when did he play those? It was fricking shadows! How the hell can a shadow eat someone! All this was was just more trees and bushes! So what if they were complete blackness, this whole goddamn world was blackness! It was most likely a different breed of tree, one that reacted to or _had_ a different color of black in this world. What had even caused him to think like that?

 _It's this place! This evil place! It seduces you into a false sense of security with it's vile taint! Then, once you are paralyzed and locked into your mind, it sends in it's SHADOW MINIONS!_ Kein slapped himself mentally _I need to leave…_

But how? How was Kein, who could barely move his head, going to escape from this black and… black, hell hole. Maybe he could use the friction of his hair to pull himself to safety, where ever that would be found! Then, a rather important fact occurred to him: he couldn't move. Kein closed his eyes in silent anger at the fact. He was unsurprised that he had forgotten, since moving is an everyday action, taking it for granted it rather easy. Releasing yet another soundless sigh, he went back to thinking, and quickly came up with another, semi-flaw in his plans: was he actually in any real danger? Danger from his own stupidity, yes, but what about physical danger? His thoughts from before resurfaced. First of all, fuck the dream idea, he would have woken up and/or been able to move by now. Second, if he was indeed being carried by the big, bustling, blue, bastard then _wow_ , it was taking its sweet time. You would think, that with all that body mass, that it would _have_ to eat. Yeah, sure, it had a bag full of _dead deer_ , but hey! Why not eat the thing that was giving you so much trouble first? Or, maybe something else held that title.

Of course, this all got him nowhere. If he was going to escape from the clutches of an unknown entity, he'd first need a way to move his body. Heck, he'd already done it before! Should be simple enough to do again. Unfortunately, even with confidence in mind, when Kein rolled his head to the left, the word 'roll' was an unnecessary verb. His first thought was that- once again- _reverse psychology_! Don't think about it, and said thing will happen! But here in came yet another problem. How was he going to get a somewhat voluntary action to become involuntary?

His first thought was the idea of waiting until something in the terrain bumped his head to one direction, was immediately trashed. It just wasn't exactly helpful considering his wanted outcome. His second idea was just reacting towards a moving object. There were plenty of those nearby and all he really needed to do was draw his focus enough so that when something unusual like… symmetry in nature? Came by…

It should have been an easy enough task to complete, numb or not. Kein knew that, in some instances, one can be numbed but still move their numbed body part. Even if it was one of the situations in which he couldn't, it shouldn't take that much to get his limbs moving again… hopefully. Of course, there was the problem of mentally grabbing hold of the limb's motion once he had found it. If there was something like an anesthetic blocking the feeling of the arm, then there might be a problem. But if this was nothing more than paresthesia he should be able to easily recov- sky octagon!

And his head shot backward as the aforementioned symmetry in nature made itself apparent. Just as fast as the distraction for the distraction came, it left, but luckily, it had given Kein just enough time to lock onto the motion needed to move his head. With a thoroughly content grin, he shot his head down, then back up, and down once again. Despite the strange reaction to success, he found it necessary. Kein did not want to repeat the process again. It was hard enough to think of something that would draw his focus, and it was even more difficult to keep his attention on it; therefore, in order to keep the muscles in his neck from being lost, he would need to keep moving them.

The motion granted no feeling, it was _weird_. Or at least seemed weird. Kein had no doubt, if he could feel right now, the weirdness of it all would be multiplied by hundreds. If he was indeed being carried right now, and he was also on the back of his attacker, wouldn't that mean he was essentially… rubbing his head on its back? And Kein had no idea what _kind_ of rubbing he was doing. For all he knew, the 'rubbing' he was doing was actually a slow, sensual pet…

Luckily, he broke _that_ train with conspicuous violence, leaving him to pursue his last-five-minutes dream of becoming the new Houdini of brilliant ideas. No matter how stupid it sounded, he had to try it. So without another thought, Kein increased the pressure of the totally-not-sexual head rubbing, back and forth, with _intensity_ , attempting to latch the back crook of his neck onto _something_ in order to move himself. Sadly, all he accomplished was pulling out some of his own hair, which had gotten stuck on the, _thing_ , beneath him. Sensing the clear failure, Kein moved on to his next idea, which made _a lot_ more sense and would hopefully lessen the apparent awkwardness. Quickly, he turned his head to the left, then just as fast to the right, and then over and over and over. Surprisingly, from what Kein could tell, he started to sway father to the left, and right, and continued to increase his distance until something unexpected happened.

Without warning, Kein's head- and body- were flung into the air. Not too far, from what he could tell, but it was enough to get his attention and make him stop rubbing. Crashing back down, he smashed his head on what he was laying on, giving him a minor headache. Then, whatever was controlling his actions decided that what he was doing before was _not_ okay: it was against standard paralyzation protocol and was, therefore, to be eliminated with extreme prejudice, namely just jostling him back into his original position. Once steady, he began to move again.

Like before, Kein stared dead-eyed at the sky. So, this thing wanted him to stay here? Like hell! This act only gave him more determination to get the fuck away. However, he was out of ideas, which didn't bode well for him. But one thing was clear, and that was his last attempt had _almost_ worked. Also! He was fairly certain that he was being carried, so more incentive! Strangely enough, this whole experience reminded him of the year in which the twins would hog tie him every morning. How they were able to do it, he may never know. It just seemed like whenever his back was turned. BAM! There they were, charging through his door, climbing through his window, and tying his person up. They would then proceed to leave him like that until he would get out. The worst part was that they would check up on him every so often to make sure he was still immobile. Therefore, he had gained quite the skill when it came to untying knots using his toes or teeth.

However, there was no way he was going to free himself with his toes, considering he couldn't feel them. Still, he might has well try the idea from before, maybe the blue fuck won't notice this time because of how big it is. So without another thought, he began to vibrate, left, right, and repeat. His oscillating velocity increased a bit faster than last time and for a second he thought he might succeed, if it hadn't been for the creature beneath him taking notice.

This time, however, it was a bit more of a violent response. Instead of just pushing back to where he was, the thing punched him. Right in the gut. From what Kein knew about this body so far, he would have guessed it not to hurt. However, he was wrong. Despite the rest of his body being numb, the quick jab was not only able to make him stop, it also involuntarily caused him to sit up. However, having just gotten sucker punched, he was unable to take heed and instead resorted to falling back down on whatever he was on, holding his stomach.

As the pain subsided, Kein let out a long sigh. The only thing that kept this from being a kidnapping was the fact that he wasn't technically a kid. Logic, right? However, there aren't any laws in the jungle so, flawed logic? This entire place was just filled with flawed logic, why not add some more! That's always fun. But continuing on in the moment, Kein began to rub his gut with one hand, disregarding all previous thoughts in favor of tending to this minor annoyance. He had gotten into fights- generally school-related- that ended badly before after some cinder block of a jock decided that they wanted a workout. However, those hits were mere nicks or bitch slaps that people were magically able to land on him. This was a full blown sucker punch.

However, Kein thought he was taking it pretty good for the first real hit he had ever taken. Which also surprised him taking the sheer number of fights he had gotten into consideration. Not even the twins resorted to hitting him around, which he knew they could do, easily.

However, no amount of scratches, knicks, trips, butt kicks, thigh slaps, or titty twisters could have prepared him for the near loss of his lunch. This, however, was not as important as the fact that the pain had subsided and he had regained his senses. Sadly for Kein, sometime during his little 'care for myself' fit, he had started moving again. Clearly his captor cared _not_ for him, though that thought was redundant because he had already 'killed' him, supposedly. However, there had to be some level of 'care' considering he hadn't killed him again or maimed him into stillness. It was almost like he was being kept as a pet, and was being punished for doing things his… 'owner' didn't like.

The idea actually disgusted him. This creature, The Blue Bitch, attacked him, beat the tar out of him, killed him or got way too close for comfort to the same, only to keep him as a slave. The worst part was that he couldn't do anything! Nothing! Could be done! Sure, he could try to escape again, but if the damn thing escalated from putting him back to punching with one attempt! Frankly, he didn't want to get stabbed, or ripped, or maimed, dissected, chopped, or any other form of bodily harm that he couldn't think of at the moment.

He shuddered at the idea of himself being slowly picked apart, hair by hair, limb by limb, only to get snapped in half and devoured mockingly as he stared into the sadistic glee-filled eyes of his tormentor. Or having the thing beneath him slowly savor each part of his body as it bit into the skin, ripping off one wrist, then munching comically with the goofiest smile on its face while the bones of his hand disintegrated noisily between its teeth. Or it could be _a_ dick and _eat_ his!

It was at this point in time in which Kein's hand unconsciously slid up and slapped his face. Though it hurt less than what had happened a few seconds ago, it had the same effect. Now was _not_ the time to envision grotesque deaths, now was the time for action! Action in the form of movement and escape! He had already proven to himself that- despite his lack of motor control- he could move. Though that was only his head, if Kein was going to release himself from the imaginary steel rebar that currently surrounded him, immediate full body access was necessary. Thought once again, how was Kein going to get his entire body to react to some passing object? It was simple enough with his head, but whole body? He'd need something like a blow to the gut in order to achieve that!

 _Goddammit, you know that, Kein! Fucking…_ Of course he'd forgotten what happened less than a few seconds ago! Of course being punched by something several times his size would slip his mind! Somehow…

 _Okay, here's the plan_ , he started in internal monologue. _Regain control of the head and try to escape that way. If it fails, then plan B will be set into motion. Plan B: if plan A fails, hoping that the thing goes and tries to punch me again… regain control of muscles that way and escape_ …

Sound plan! Now, putting it into action. There was some hesitation in his mind. You don't go into a room and yell 'Quick! Someone shoot me!' That's just bad form, and Kein, was not, a particularly self-destructive person. Therefore, in the very front of his mind was the loud as a jet engine voice telling him that he was about to get punched, move out of the way. It probably should have taken more to push that voice back, but luckily, Kein's mind knew that what he was doing was for the best. Having gained a small amount of feeling his in head from the previous endeavors, Kein was able to sigh verbally and actually feel it. Following up with a quick lip bite, he began to rock his head back and forth.

 _WHAM!_

Okay! That time it was not a punch, more or less a full body slap! Still, it was localized on his stomach, meaning…

 _Got it!_ Kein yelled with mental glee. The hit actually _hurt_ this time, which was a good thing. It meant that all his efforts weren't in vain, and that his attempts at movement had begun to lessen the numbness. Ignoring the rest of the world, Kein latched onto the sensation in his gut and capitalized on it. So, rather than just sitting up and falling back down, he sat up, then proceeded to _throw_ himself to the side. Miraculously, his arms- or just right arm, recalling what happened to the other- had also responded to the hit, allowing him to more or less give himself an additional boost as he flew off the supporting back of his attacker.

So far, Kein's track record for 'infallible plans' had been pretty bad. Given that he'd only really executed five plan, his rate of failure has been sixty percent. With the current circumstances, he wasn't really in a proper position to make any book-updating schemes: at least some slack was in order. Though, he'd already forgotten about his lack of movement one time, so in all honesty, he shouldn't have forgotten about it again! This was, unfortunately, not the case, and as he whipped his legs around to land feet first, his face intercepted the ground.

 _Thud_!

His right cheek lit up with pain. The kind of pain one would get after getting a cut on top of an already existing rash. As fast as his lethargic limb could carry him, Kein pushed his upper body skyward, only to slide forward as his legs slipped off the back of the creature.

 _Thud…_

 _Fuck!_ One word, one thought- ambiguity and meaning as to thousands. Legs! Not working! Once more, Kein pushed himself up- his body bending backward into an impromptu seal position. It was slightly lopsided, but a seal nonetheless! With his left arm still tucked in, he thrust off with his right. However, upon attempting to catch himself, his lack of arm strength made itself apparent, causing him to fall to the ground once again. This, yet again, caused him pain. Luckily, not from his face, but rather from his chest and stomach. Topping it off, the right elbow had not forgotten the punishment it had taken and made it murderously apparent.

But he was determined! Determined not to be eaten and or picked back up! With a grunt, Kein strained his muscles and pushed off the ground- dropping to the dirt with another _thud_. Before he could force himself up for the fourth time, his whole body was jerked to the side, the pivot point being his upper chest.

Kein was immediately aware of what was happening: the blue fucker had finally reacted to his movement and had turned to face him, also having accidentally pushed his legs to the side in the process. This alone set a fresh wave of dread through him, and as if responding to his new fear, Kein's legs curled inwards. Endorphins and epinephrine. That's what was currently flowing through his mind, for respectable reasons.

Of course, it did matter, because as soon as the tension in his thighs was released and his whole body sprang forward, a rope-like appendage wrapped around his leg and yanked him back. As he hit the ground on his back with another dull onomatopoeia, Kein shot his arm forward. At this point, he had stopped thinking. Sure, reaching this state was much easier, but his brain already knew that his body was damaged, and to prevent any further and unnecessary injuries, it fully took over.

Continuing the previous action, Kein's available hand enclosed around the first object it touched. Said item was a rock, o it was shaped like a rock… Why did this matter? Well, no matter what species you are- giant, ferocious, ice-spitting beast or not- a one-kilogram rock flying at your face is going to make you recoil, if only slightly.

 _Motherfuc- ACK!_

Kein chucked that rock like no rocks had been thrown before. Due to the lack of space between himself and his attacker there was an almost instant reaction. Though the only reason he was given the time to throw the rock was because the creature had taken the time to release his leg and lunge for his neck. Luckily, this had happened _before_ be had thrown the stone, meaning that when he chucked it, the appendage that was now around his neck did lessen its tension, if only slightly. But the counterattack made by Kein did have another effect, a more _negative_ effect. Obviously, this thing was just as determined as him, but instead of wanting to escape, it wanted to enslave. So when the rock sailed into its face and hit it, it did jerk back. Rather than letting go, the blue fuck held firm- yanking his neck and dragging Kein alone his back.

Now, Kein was trapped, numb, _and_ choking! A brilliantly harmful combination! Regardless of his new ailment, Kein fought on, even if that fighting was degraded to nothing more than flailing and tugging… which it was. Within the next second, Kein had whipped himself around so that his feet were pointed toward his enemy, and was now kicking out wildly. Coupled with that, his working arm had inexorably moved its hand up to the still firmly neck-wrapping limb and had grabbed at it. Unfortunately, the only thing this actually accomplished was cutting his hand on the blade that resided there.

For the second time in what seemed like less than five minutes, the creature decided that it had had enough of Kein's shit, and tightened its grip on his neck. Then, it proceeded to lift him up just enough so that his lower back was off the ground and _throw_ him to the side. Of course, it didn't relinquish its hold on him, so as his body flew forward, it was also whipped sideways- his neck being the pivot point.

But it wasn't done. Next, it tightened the appendage _even further_ , forcing Kein to jet his arm up just so he wouldn't suffocate. Once satisfied that its prey wouldn't be using its hands for anything else, the frost fucker began pulling. Naturally, Kein protested, and stuck his foot out- hoping to catch it on a surfaced tree root or stone. Luckily, this did happen and he temporarily stopped. Was it worth it? No, of course not! Having already had enough, the creature reacted very angrily to his repeated attempts of stalling. Yet again, it yanked at Kein's neck, only this time to the side.

Upon 'recovering' from the most recent act of violence, Kein redoubled his efforts, only now, it was much more difficult. Not from the previous weakness that was once again making itself apparent, but instead from the fact that he could no longer catch his feet on anything. So instead, he released his hand and shot it down to the dirt; the digits sadly connecting with nothing but loose pebbles and small, uselessly thin roots. Regardless, his flailing didn't cease, and as he was clichélydragged off, he did the only thing he could and looked up.

What Kein saw made him freeze. The beast was dragging towards the eternal blackness! Kein _dectupled_ his efforts. Hands? Grab shit! Feet? Dig your heels into the ground! Legs? Spread out and attempt to catch a passing object! Butt? Clench and hope you succeed! All this happened within the moment of realization, and for the same moment, he stopped! But the persistence was prevalent on both sides, and as Kein's body continued to fight, so did the ice spitter's. This lack of motion seemed indefinite as the two sides fought for dominance, but as fast as it came, the whole thing fell apart.

With a sudden lack of control both Kein's legs- which had been doing most of the holding- once again fell numb. This only served to have them suddenly pulled together, not only causing him slight pain but also clicking his heels together and making them lose grip. Without the support of the others, the hands became victims of blisters and released their grip. All this happened within a quarter of a second. Since the intensity of the tug-of-war took a sharp turn toward escalation, the opposing member having no time to react to his opponent's sudden failure.

It was this list of failures that inevitably ended with Kein and his attacker flying head over heels _over_ each other. Of course, Kein was fully aware of what was going to happen did the motion of flight continue: _shadowy consumption_. He tried, he really did. Heck! Even his broken arm attempted to help! But in the end, air is _not_ a solid object and _cannot_ be grabbed. Fortunately, Kein did manage to scream one last curse of defiance before be was ensnared by the void- filling his vision with a dazzling light and silencing his voice from the darkened world.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Ssethelis: What the heck was that, Aetheo?**

 **Aetheo: Phuck you. I'm doing this phor as long as I pheel like doing this.**

 **I'm going to pass you guys off for a second, I want to inform our dear friend Dom here about something a few chapter- I think it was seven- ago: You're right, some people- maybe most- would have died,** _ **if**_ **they were taken by surprise. Let's just say, adrenaline allows you to do some crazy shit. End of story. If you don't believe me, Google it. I'm sure the results will be more than pleasing…**

 **Aetheo: Phor sure. The pheats perphormed by those under the inphluence oph some hormone phluctuation are phrightening**

 **Correct… as Aetheo here has so… thoughtfully… put it.**

 **AETHEO: THE PLANT CODE COMMANDS IT!1!1!**

 **It sure does. There, now we all have an inside joke that remains on the outside… for all to enjoy. I think there was something else… but it must have not been as good, cause I can't remember it.**

 **WELP! That sucks. I suppose that's it now. I have nothing else to say. What about you guys?**

 **Aetheo: I think all I've been writing is philler anyways.**

 **Well, I'm sorry you think that but at least you are contributing to the A/N's unlike Sseth. Little bitch.**

 **Aetheo: Signing out with magic, going to our homes in the Abyss of Doom. We'll be waiting phor that train.**

 _ **FIN**_

 **Aetheo: (Phin)**


	10. Journeys Traveled, Roads Paved

**A/N:**

 **Aetheo: Well, hello there all… Let me get a few things out of the way.**

 **MakeSureToKnock is** _ **not**_ **dropping this story. For one, I think he's too invested. For another,** _ **I'm**_ **too invested at this point.**

 **I'm gonna be the only one talking in today's regularly (though not really because it's Monday and the schedule died [see MSTK's note following this.]) scheduled Author's notes, so it's really more of an editor's notes.**

 **I'm not really funny alone.**

 **Ok… With those solved, Let's get on with it.**

 **Disclaimer: We own nothing. Or, really, we own the storyline and OC's, but... not really. We've mentioned using Google Docs before. Check out their Terms and Conditions. Pretty interesting, if you ask me.**

 **With that, I'm handing it off to your author who could have written this Sunday but chose not to. (Not that I was done editting by the time he lost internet connection [Sorry {Kinda}])**

 ***7:31 the next morning. Having just finished reading the notes added by his best editor, Knock proceeded to lean back deeper in the wall and spoke aloud***

 **What exactly am I supposed to do now? I mean… he kinda… did it all. Shit? Okay, I'll just… Know what? Fuck it. Post it. I'll tell stories next time.**

 **And without further ado: Welcome back.**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Journeys Traveled, Roads Paved**

"See, it's right there! This was _much_ faster!" the pointed snout of Cynder exclaimed as she peered off towards the southwestern section of the continent.

"It could have been even faster," her purple coated companion, Spyro, began, gazing upon the tiny spec between two mountains that was the city of Warfang, "maybe less than _three days_ if we had just stayed in the air."

"Oh, shush. Don't be like that." The young hero turned to find her signature smirk upon her face. "I know you enjoyed the walk."

Spyro began his reply by raising one paw and examining it closely while he spoke. "The saplings and other plant life was nice, but my paws hurt now." He was forced to place it back on the ground when Cynder gave him a light push.

"Don't be such a hatchling, we've walked further in shorter periods of time before."

"I know that! I'd just rather not have to exert more energy than needed, especially after the fight with _him_ …"

"Oh? Is that a little bit of Sparx I hear?" Cynder quipped, turning her head slightly, as if attempting to listen more intently. "Or has the purple dragon of legend finally embraced his dragon _fly_ side?"

"I wouldn't call it a dragonfly side," Spyro replied with a snort, pushing Cynder's muzzle away. "I'd say it was more of... embracing my upbringing."

"'Embracing your upbringing?"

"And all its dragonfly customs!"

"All of them?" Cynder asked, her smile not even comparable to the goofy grin that Spyro current wore.

"Down to the last set of table manners!"

"Well, pity my knowledge. Pray tell, what did your upbringing entail?" Cynder asked, changing her tone to match her envisionment of his 'table manners.'

"Mostly the _dangerous_ games that Sparx would demand we played," he answered with a sarcastic emphasise.

"Like what?"

"Like the dreaded game," he paused leaning in slightly and, in turn, causing Cynder to do the same, "of _tag_! Ooooo!" Dedicating to the part, Spyro went cross-eyed and waved his paws around in front of him- attempting to depict the apparent spookiness.

Upon noting the now crossed eyes of her companion, Cynder immediately jumped back. "Stop! That's weird!" she yelled, turning her face away from Spyro and his unusuality. "It's not natural!"

The purple dragon only took this as a challenge. "You mean this?" Moving himself forward, he released his crossed eyes, only to move his left eye to the upper left side of its socket and pretend to lose all control of its twin, causing it to fall limply and roll around. "Or this?" he added, rotating them in opposite directions like loose coins.

"Eeew! No, stop! How can you even do that!" Cynder exclaimed. Spyro ignored her cries and continued moving towards her with his loopy eyes. It wasn't until she forcefully pushed him to the ground did he finally stop. "Don't do that, you know I don't like it."

"Well, _now_ I do," he said, picking himself back up and righting his vision.

"So don't do it again!" she snapped back.

"It's actually really easy. I can teach you if you want."

"No, no thanks. I'll just keep my eyes in their natural positions," she said, waiting a second before regathering herself. "Why would you even need to do that?"

"It's just something that all dragonflies can do," he replied, turning his head away but continuing to move his eyes separately as example.

"And you."

"And me. The reason for it is so that younger members- like the children- can look two different directions at once."

"So they can spot danger?" Cynder asked.

"Yeah," he said in confirmation. "Most lose the ability to do it by our age, though. It's actually pretty useful, so I kept practicing it."

"How come I never saw you do it during any fights?" another question seeping from her mouth.

"How would you tell?" he asked wryly, looking back to her with a smirk. A smirk that only disappeared when her lack of amusement finally regersited. "Okay, fine. I don't do it in combat because it doesn't really help."

Cynder scoffed, "I find that hard to believe."

"Well, imagine having to focus on two different images that are constantly moving at once." Unfortunately, she didn't seemed satisfied with his elaboration. Noticing this, he took up a better explanation. "How about having two axes being swung at you, then mistaking left for right and jumping into one."

"If you put it like that…"

"Yeah, it's better for spotting of movement."

"No depth perception." A comment to which she only received a grunt. There was a small moment of peace before Cynder continued the conversation. "What other 'horrors' did you have to endure during your desperately difficult childhood?"

Spyro only gave himself a short time to giggle before responding. "Come on, Cynder. It wasn't that bad."

"Fine then, don't answer me," she snarkily shot back with the addition of a fake pout.

Giving in with the roll of his eyes, he continued. "I had to eat mushrooms." This really caught Cynder's attention.

"Wha- Really?"

"Yeah, not like I could eat much of anything else. There wasn't very many small animals in the swamp that _weren't_ poisonous and bulb spiders were _way_ too big for me to kill. Well, at least not until a few years ago."

"That's… _Bleg_! How could you stand that!? Even I didn't have to do that!"

"They're not _that_ bad," he repeated.

"But aren't the mushrooms also poisonous?"

"Not all of them."

"But the vast majority are."

"Yeah-"

"Then why did you eat them!" she interrupted.

"I could still eat the ones that were poisonous, mom just had to stew them first."

"How did you know which ones _were_ poisonous?"

"Well, the first way was how big it was. The larger the mushroom, the less poisonous it was."

There was a small pause after this statement. Mainly from the lack of counter question from Cynder, but in her case, she was contemplating the last thing Spyro had said, and how it contradicted her previous thoughts. "But why did you have a problem with food? The largest mushrooms in that swamp are the size of trees! They couldn't have been _that_ poisonous!"

"You're right, they weren't poisonous at all. In fact, I could just straight up take a bite from them."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Cynder, those weren't just the size of tree, they _were_ trees. Trying to take a bite out of one of those was like trying to ea-."

"Eat bark. Yeah, I get it now," she finished for him; her eyes staring disgustedly at the saplings nearby, as if attempting to envision herself eating tree flesh. "But if the only way you could eat the poisonous ones was for your mom to cook them, then… _elements_! That's a lot of stew…"

Spyro's eyes shot open for a moment before a conflicted look crossed his face. "Yeah, you're… right. Wow, I never really respected how much work she put into that…"

"Until now at least."

He let off a small 'hmm' before finishing his speech. "I should really thank her for that…" The thought of his adoptive parents drew Spyro away from the conversation and caused the worries from 3 days ago to resurface. Cynder- being the ever so perceptive dragoness she is- noted this and intervened by asking another question.

"Was that the last of your misfortunes?"

Spyro violently released a titter. His expression changed from the 'intensely depressed' to 'you make me laugh, even though I don't want to.' Not long after, he spoke. "Well if you've ever wondered why I can sleep in the cold, that'd be one cause. I was too big to fit inside the house, so I slept outside."

"Aw, you poor baby."

Spyro's posture completely broke and he began chuckling. Said chortles only intensified as she then went ahead and wrapped one of her wings around his back and pulled him in for a hug from behind. "Yeah, poor me. I don't know how I survived." he said, shooting down her mockery with his own.

"Neither do I," she replied with a lazy sigh, resting her head on the back of his.

The stayed like that for the next couple of minutes, soaking up the fading light of the sun that rested just beyond the next ridge. It hadn't occurred to him that the questions Cynder had asked may have been more than just statements or sarcasm, nor did he realize the impact of his words had upon her. There was, obviously, no way he could have been fully aware of this, since the frown she currently held was safely tucked behind his back- and therefore completely invisible to him.

"There was one thing that was really annoying though," he said, interrogating the silence into non-existence, "or at least for Sparx."

"And what would that be?" she asked, rotating her snout so that the tip of it could be seen just barely at the top of his vision.

"Don't go out at night." Cynder's half scoff, half laugh only encouraged him to continue. "Mom always said: Don't go out at night or the bulb spiders and frogweed will snatch you up and carry you off!"

"But not eat you?"

"Nope, just 'snatch you up and carry you off.'" Upon the completion of the sentence, he felt Cynder shift above him, but passed it off as discomfort due to his back frills.

"You mean... kind of like this?" That was a mistake.

"Ye- what? _Hugh_!" Her playful seriousness caught him off guard, though this confusion didn't get to last very long as, not soon after hearing that, he was assaulted with the full weight of his companion.

"I'm going to carry you off, Spyro!" Cynder called from atop his back, himself being pinned to the ground. "But not eat you! Because eating is violent and you can't tell hatchlings violent things!"

"Oofh nuhhhhh!" the purple drake replied, his words muffled by the paw she had placed on his muzzle. "Wghaat amf I goifng tf do?"

"Nothing!" she answered for him, cackling in a manner most similar to her past, evil self. "Here we go! Are you ready!?"

"Nuh."

To this, she did not respond. Instead, Cynder chose to remove the paw she had placed on Spyro's snout and move it so that it was hooked around his right armpit. She moved her foreleg to a similar position on his left and and wrapped her hide paws around his lower stomach, effectively ensnaring him. Once satisfied with her grip, Cynder fanned her wings out and began pumping. After a few seconds of her attempting to gain liftoff, Spyro spoke up.

"Cynder, are you sure you can do this?"

"Silence, prey! I am capturing you!"

"What happened to carry-"

"Carrying you off!"

After another few moments, Cynder still had yet to take flight with Spyro in tow. Not that he doubted her abilities, she just wasn't as physically strong and him.

"Maybe Sparx was right. You _are_ really heavy," she said between huffs.

Spyro sighed, ignoring the comment and deciding on an enlightening tip: "Why don't you use your elements?"

"I said silence! Bulb spiders do not have elements!"

Doing as proscribed, Spyro fell silent. Again, seconds passed and Cynder continued to show her perseverance, even when the task at hand was obviously helpless. But Spyro, being his compassionate self, took a small amount of pity in her failed attempts and helped. Namely in the way of standing up- having, technically, no extra weight to support. This action only served to inspire his companion to try harder in her escapades, evident by the redoubling of her efforts. But still, it wasn't enough. Wanting to help even further, he next unfurled his own wings- rather stealthily, as to not alert Cynder of his assistance- and began to flap. With his added participation, the two were soon a good twenty feet in the air. It was at this point in which Cynder opened her eyes. Blinking away her initial enjoyment and confusion, she opened her maw.

"Hey! No helping!" she shouted, turning her head slightly to meet Spyro's own eyes. "I'm the one who is supposed to be carrying you!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! Now stop helping."

"Cynder, I do-"

"Spyro!" she whined. There was a sort elapse of time in which two to locked eyes, the resolve being apparent in both, but soon after the purple dragon submitted.

"Alright…" Despite his answer, Spyro was completely aware of what the outcome would be if he stopped flapping. So, with him being himself, again, Spyro gave one last strong flap with his left wing… and stopped. Cynder- who was either oblivious to the height they were at or just wasn't thinking straight- began screaming the _instant_ they started to fall. Why did she scream rather than let go of Spyro and catch herself? Two things: dedication and suddenness. Spyro on the other hand was clearly prepared for the repercussion of falling and continued. His left wing already in its downstroke, he continued the motion and tucked it against his chest. Using the generated thrust and the sudden space between their bodies, Spyro whipped himself around in her grasp so that they were belly to belly. Finishing it off, he wrapped his right wing around her back and let the pent up earth energy to be released from his body.

"SPYR-" _Crack_!

The sudden and eerie lack of sound that filled the small clifftop the two previously occupied was all that could explain the situation. Luckily, this insinuating silence was promptly removed when a second batch of cracks filled the air. Within the next second, the creaking of the ball of earth that sat in the middle of a small crater finally stopped. Abruptly, the entire orb disintegrated, revealing Spyro and Cynder. One on their back, both of their wings wrapped around the second, who was still hanging on for dear life. It took Cynder another couple of seconds to realize that she was no longer falling. Upon having this epiphany, she jumped upwards, making it rather hard to tell if she was _purposely_ doing everything in her power to hit Spyro in the gut.

"Spyro! Why did you do that!?" she exclaimed once standing.

"What?" Spyro replied, being to remove himself from the ground with renewed chuckling. "I did what you said."

"You!" was all she managed to get out. Instead, Cynder decided to show her already apparent dislike by running forward and pushing him over- pinning him to the ground. "You know what I meant!" His only response was an increased amount of laughter, to which she narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to get back at you, you know that right?"

"I know," he began, "but it was worth it to see you hang onto me like it was night time." During the three days in which they were traveling, Spyro finally asked why she insisted on sleeping near him, her response being that she was afraid of the dark. Which was contradictory to her main element: shadow.

"I-I do-" she shuttered, a barely visible blush turning her face a fine shade of claret. However, her embarrassment was quickly destroyed when her expression darkened. But rather than speaking words, she huffed, pushed him down into the dirt, and walked off. Spyro, of course, without the source of his giggling disappearing during her small fit, picked himself up.

"What? Did I embarrass the former 'Terror of the Skies?'" He teased. It was not until the tactfulness of the comment fully set in did he regret saying this. "Cynder, I-" But the damage was already done. She was sitting a mere five feet away from him, head down, wings drooping slightly; a clear sign of sadness. With an exasperated sigh, Spyro stood fully and walked over to his sitting companion. Once he reached her location, he too sat down. "Cynder, you know I didn't mean it like that." Upon receiving no answer, the purple drake felt another weight settle on his back. "Please, Cyn-"

"Ah-ha! Gotcha!" Before the purple dragon could comprehend the sudden and unexpected explosion of words he was already on his back. Cynder, who had been previously convinced was crying due to his own tactlessness, was now jovially crouched over him while wearing a smile similar to the one several minutes before. "Made you worry, did I?"

It didn't take him long to figure out that she had been faking the whole time, essentially making him overly concerned about her well being. It wasn't necessarily bad, it just worked as an additional embarrassment factor, and a damn good one at that.

"N-No, I was j-just…" he began- attempting to not gather blood.

"Just what, Spyro? Were you going to attempt to comfort me after making what you consider a horrible mistake?"

He stuttered his mouth open in response but failed to accumulate sensible noises in his mouth. She had him at an impasse, between the rock of truth and the hard place of shame. Not that the situation was anything to be ashamed of, really; he was concerned about a friend and attempting to support them. Of course, coherency had all but abandoned him in the moment, leaving him to puzzle out where his train of thought had gone- though he knew the final answer would likely be "The Abyss of Doom." Having returned from being captured by her kidnapping methods, he let out a small huff, then proceeded to curl his legs up above him and build up the power of earth. Cynder knew what he was doing, and could in all honestly avoid his 'strike' with ease. However, she was aware that he would never do anything to hurt her, so when push came to shove, she let the push happen.

With a sudden huff of annoyance Spyro thrusted his feet upwards. The extra earthen energy the had been coupled with the push was released and what would have been a simple knock off was turned into a practical catapult. Out of pure mockery, Cynder exclaimed the one thing that would make Spyro's attempt at a comeback be a game.

Laughter was her onomatopoeia of choice. That, coupled with the tectonic _snap_ from the release of energy reinstated the silence from moments before. By the time Spyro had picked himself back up, Cynder was calmly and methodically flapping her wings, descending easily back to the ground all while maintaining her grin and internally guffawing at Spyro's own expression of dislike. "What?" was the first thing she said upon landing. "Did I ruin your comeback?"

Spyro only snorted. "No," his verbal response began, "I just want to know why you're being so… calm, about what I said."

"Well, I mean, a couple weeks ago, yeah, I might have been hurt by that."

"Well, why not now, then?" he asked, trying not to sound like he had a brilliant plan to insult her, and it ended up failing.

"Spyro," she started, "we killed him! Malefor is _dead_! And the 'Terror of the Skies' died with him." Her tone lost all forms of jovality within the instant.

Spyro recoiled from her forwardness about the situation. "Cynder… That's, that's amazing. I can't believe that you're being so decisive about that."

"Can't believe or don't want to?" Spyro lost his face of surprise and replaced it with his last one. A frown that was, in fact, so deep what it caused Cynder to crack up laughing. "Oh, calm down you purple lug, I know you love me."

To this statement, he only deepened his stare, though, somewhere within him the comment did strike a chord. Was it a good or bad one, he did not yet know. But apparently, his voice was aware of his subconscious choice. "I'm starting to reconsider that," he said slowly.

"Stop!" the dark scaled dragoness stifled through her mirth. It did take her a moment, but she was able to connect a few dots, and Spyro's statement suddenly changed in value. "You're going to make me p- wait, what?"

The awkwardness of the situation was taken to the exponent of infinity- at least for Cynder. Spyro maintained his mask of displeasure, even after her obviously hurt question. Regardless of her sudden curiosity, she didn't ask again. Rather, for unknown reasons, she continued her new-found look of incredulousness, an expression that ended nothing and only served to strengthen the war of silence that had befallen them. The same could be said for Spyro, though he maintained his visage, despite the gut wrenching anxiety it was causing by holding it.

"I… I'm going to go… see what's over the ledge," Cynder began, her unceasing uneasiness clearly showing in her voice. "You can come… i-if you want…" Without another word, she turned and walked towards the slightly inclined plain that lead to the aforementioned cliff ledge.

Contrary to what Spyro would have even believed himself, he did in fact manage to keep the same look from minutes before. Why? Well, the scenario called for such. He didn't know why, but to him, it seemed that if he were to lose the expression or otherwise show a condition in his feelings, it might make the situation even more awkward than it was. Of course, he had no idea if this was actually true or if it was no more than a gut feeling, but it wasn't like he could go back on it now.

Speaking of gut feelings, he couldn't get the idea that the comment he had made, made more of an impact than let out to be, out of his mind. Sure, Cynder's reasoning was sound enough, and who would he be to judge her satisfactions? But regardless, it just didn't seem like her to let something go that easily, or if all it took for her grudges to be settled were for the offending party to be brutally beaten, fall thousands of feet into a volcano, then consumed of the rage-filled souls of the ancestors.

 _Guess that would be why her relationship with Sparx is so… tense._ Still, even if she had gotten over it, saying something like that had to at least be offending! Not, of course, that he was trying to be, but he _had_ essentially reminded Cynder of her evil self, a dragon who had quite literally captured all of the Guardians as if they were nothing more than tiny moles.

Spyro actually shivered at the thought. Cynder's previous form was not the most… _attractive_. More... deviously murderous. Even having to remember the fight between him and her devillian form gave him nightmares. But that, the idea of her evil form, the form in which she had spent more than half of her life. If all it took for him was the _thought_ of it to be terrified, why didn't it affect _her_ more? Sure, it had at one point, but with the way she played it off mere moments ago made it seem like more of a joke than a horrifying past. So what did she do? Forget about it?

That, unfortunately, was impossible, or at least seemed impossible for him. Cynder was constantly reminded of the fact that her not-so-pleasant past existed every time she screwed up in battle. She was much more proficient in combat than he was, at least at the time, but one doesn't go their entire life fighting and learn nothing. However, the sudden change in size had really gotten to her, having lived in that body for almost her whole life- compared to around four months outside of it, now. He could pick out times in which she would forget about her actual size and try to perform something completely outside her capabilities. Recently, the instances had been occurring less and less, but she still had moments. Back on topic, with these failures popping up to remind her that she wasn't in her adult body, he thought that there had to be some form of resentment, and in turn, sadness, from remembering what came along with them.

So what he said _had_ to be offending! And since he was now one hundred percent certain of it, next he had to question what he was going to do to hopefully solve the problem. However, he still hadn't answered his uncertainties as to whether _she_ saw it the way _he_ did. To Cynder, her past could be a reminder of something that she overcame and conquered- allowing her to become what she was now: a hero. This possibility didn't surprise Spyro in the slightest. Cynder had a strong personality, one that was not so easily beaten down; a lifetime of mentally-twisted servitude will do that. Plus, they had already gone over this after the whole transgression with the crazy cheetah edler who had the keys. Creepy bastard. So really, why was he concerned? His entire thought process had just been a repetition of already past events, and Hunter had been there with them for extra support. So in all reality, he was just overreacting… again.

 _I really need to work on that,_ Spyro thought to himself. _For her sake more than my own._ So with that almost-depression line out of the way, he looked up the slope Cynder had disappeared behind and started to walk with a new spring in his step. Unfortunately, this spring was promptly tangled when his right front paw landed on a wet patch of soil. Looking down, his eyes were met with splotches of clumped up mud, all held tightly together by small drops of water. Upon confirming that it wasn't raining with a simple flick of the head, his frown from earlier resurfaced. _Or maybe not._

 **!000!**

In age old folk tales and ancient songs sung by roaring campfires, one thing was always recurring in stories: Glory or death. A noble concept… or a stupid one, depending on your point of view. Either way, it was a lesson taught throughout generations. It was even an ideology that the Manweersmall civilization picked up at one point; strange, but true. Some claim that it was this same plague-ish like notion that started the continent wide, species eradicating war and in the first place. Unfortunately, no one may ever know, courtesy of the two conversing dragons who were flying rather sluggishly, exchanging stories they had picked up from no one knew where.

For the past three days the two had traveled from outcove to cavern; cliff-top to valley, making their way home. As the shadows progressed, scenery changed from the barely greened, jagged hills of the Great Volcano to the tiny peaks of the Sham-Ridge mountains that they were now sailing over. It had been an incredibly boring journey, according to Cynder at least. So, in an attempt to make the travel time swing by faster- or to just quell his companion's whining- Spyro proposed a simple spout of tale telling. Strangely enough, in spite of what one would believe, none of the stories told up to this point contained neither glory _nor_ death. Shocking, wasn't it?

Regardless, the lack of violence wasn't dissuasive to either, and soon, both found out that it was a rather relaxing way to not only pass the time, but also let loose some of their own personal ideas. Sometimes the stories even insinuated that they were about characters they knew, like Hunter- and once, even Sparx, somehow- for example. It was an interesting experience to say the least, providing a strange yet satisfying sense of intensity in a non-hostile scenario. That was, of course, when the scene in the story was appropriate. Most of the time it was just depictions of areas that they had already been, but were unable to actually appreciate due to their demanding time crunch.

Fortunately- though maybe with some displeasure from Cynder- their target location of interest was already close enough distance to relinquish detail about itself. The city of Warfang. The _famed_ , or infamous at least,city of Warfang. Once thought to be an invincible safe haven for all those seeking refuge from the war, the dragon capital of the realms had been degraded until it was nothing more than an overrated pile of rubble. Neither Spyro nor Cynder could back up the degrading claim yet, having had to leave the city the instant the fighting stopped.

It was a miracle indeed that the few draconic defenders of the city were able to hold of the attack as long as they did. Not to make the mole citizens seem useless- though, in all reality, most of the non-dragon soldiers that had fought alongside those defenders were barely older than Spyro or Cynder were now. Regardless, the topic had come up just before Spyro had suggested stories, then proceeded to take up about four hours of their time. Having almost no tactical training himself, Spyro remained silent throughout Cynder's extensive breakdown of the battle, save for the sparse question or opinion. Cynder, having had several years as an army general, was quite literally ripping whoever was in charge of the Grublins during the battle a new asshole. To be honest, most of the things she was saying made sense, not only with the weaknesses of the enemy, but also the city's own failures. Like only having _one_ major defensive cannon on a wall that stretched at least one hundred and eighty degrees around the city. Cynder rambled on for a bare minimum of _thirty minutes_ about that cannon, going off _anything_ ; from positioning to firepower, the designers of _that_ particular feature had at least twenty new assholes ripped into their possibly-slain bodies from positioning it in a place best suited for artillery that _teleported_ it's projectiles.

After that, Cynder went on about how she would have _taken_ the city. Spyro knew his companion had tendencies, violent tendencies, sarcastic tendencies, hell, sometimes even food related tendencies, but you've got to draw the line somewhere. Unfortunately, Spyro's line was nowhere near their current location, nor did he have the guts to actually look disappointed when she started list off in what order she would have killed the defending dragons to make it easier for 'her' ground troops. It was unnerving, to say the least. That, and her theorycrafting new weapons of war.

Luckily, that was hours ago- around early morning- and since then, Cynder had moved away from war talk. Currently, the two were in the middle of a rather riveting tale being told by non-other-than Miss Hostility herself.

"And he was never heard from again!" The smiling face of tragedy spoke, with more enthusiasm than Volteer in a library. "Though, some say you can still see his weapon locked in endless flight; whisking by with such speed that it seemed like a mere breeze."

Spyro raised a skeptical eye-ridge. "A mere breeze? Cynder, it's a weapon that can't be stopped by any living thing-"

"Save for its wielder."

"-yes," he continued, "and isn't affected by gravity. How could that create a simple breeze? If this story was true, there would be a line stretching across the entire planet where everything was cut in half. Someone would have noticed something like that by now."

"It's not like the spear's the size of a tree, Spyro. I bet something that thin would be able to pass unnoticed," she replied, barrel rolling over her purple companion in lazy satisfaction.

"Okay, yeah. But really, if the thing is as old as you say, then someone _has_ to have gone looking for it." His eyes tracking her movements. "Thirty-five thousand years is a long time!"

"Oh, shush. It's not that long."

"Wha- Cynder! That's longer than all of recorded history!"

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, floating over his body and forcing him to look up at her. "Or is that just what Cyril told you?"

His face became flushed within the instant, since both knew how much the Ice Guardian _loved_ history, more specifically, his own, so they knew that some sources of information were not so… _credible_. Her grin was enough to quell any further argument from him, though internal monologue- that slipped out occasionally as murmurs- existed for quite some time afterward. Cynder maintained her mien of happiness despite that fact that she could _hear_ the loathing from her partner. She couldn't really blame him, having finally become aware of the past several hours and how she had pretty much dominated all conversation. The feeling was enough to destroy her lightened mood. Luckily for her, Spyro reinstated the discussion, on a slightly more positive note.

"Where did you even hear of that story anyway?" he asked.

"Hunter told it to me."

"Hunter?" The asked statement was given with some doubt, mainly due to the unbelievable amount of trust that Spyro had for the rogue Cheetah. So it was unusual for Hunter not to tell him something.

"Yup, he told me a bunch of stories- actually, now that I think about it, they were more like a series; one after another up to six, I think."

"How come I didn't hear them?

"He would tell them after you fell asleep," she claimed offhandedly.

Spyro's wings stuttered mid-fight as he jerked to the side in disbelief. "What? Why!? What if I wanted to hear them?"

"Well, usually, you'd fall asleep too fast."

Having absolutely _no way_ to counter that argument, he instead assaulted the conversation with a pout and another question. "What about you? How come you didn't fall asleep?"

Cynder thought for a moment. Several reasons crossed her mind, some more damaging than others- but Spyro didn't need to know that. Instead, a small smile graced her muzzle. "Well, I'd say mainly it was because Hunter is a very engaging story teller." She then began to move her front paws around, tracing invisible circles in the air. "He does that whole hand movement thing and acts out the scenes with his fingers. Quite a riveting experience. Truly, you should try it some time."

Spyro ignored her teasing but still managed to show a slight ire. "I never really understood why all the other races do that."

"Do what?" Cynder asked. "The motion-to-emphasize-words businesses?

"Yeah," he replied. Then, looking down at his own paws, Spyro cringed. "It just seems weird to me. Waving your paws in someone else's face to make your words more attention demanding."

"Why is that weird? It makes sense."

"No, not really. I mean, if they wanted to listen to you, or if what you had to say was important enough in the first place, than you shouldn't have to do do anything else to grab someone's attention."

Cynder adopted a sideways smirk, she then took a deep breath and flexed her paws. "Well, I can see why you'd think that, but there are other factors that need to be taken into place before you should call something as instinctual as motion in language useless."

Spyro on the other hand adopted an 'oh, shit' type of look and instantly knew what was going to happen next. Cynder was going to prove him wrong with at a bare minimum of three different examples.

 _Well, better get it over with_ , he sighed.

"First off. What you said before was a bit tactless, don't you think? I mean, 'if what you have to say is important, then people should will listen to you' was actually a common point of agreement common point of agreement, lots of the moles in Warfang would go unnoticed." All three of her talons extended on after another. "And while the city is governed by a monarch, the people have much more freedom in speech than most other nations citizens."

"And how would you know that?" Spyro blurted without consent if his mind.

Cynder depanned. "I've been places, Spyro. Lots, of places." After slowly finishing the last sentence, she whipped her head back into a forward position and continued speaking. "Now, part of what you said may be true. In normal conversation, adding actions to words does seem a bit useless."

 _She's agreeing with me? That's a first._ Spyro brooded, his eyes shuffling around again.

"Buuuut-"

 _And nevermind._

"What about informal conversation. And I mean like in teaching, so don't go and try to be wise on me." Spyro closed his mouth. "What if, in teaching, actions are used as a secondary reminder? A different way to remember information. Adding visual cues to verbal information. That way, when a situation similar to the one practiced or spoken about comes up, people can respond to something other than words."

"Like wing commands," Spyro said, having somehow not only managed to retain focus enough to make a useful and correct comment, but had also keep near perfect eye contact.

"Yeah, just like those," Cynder agreed. "You also just gave me another reason." Luckily, she was too absorbed in the 'argument' to hear her companion curse himself. "Motion of the limbs could just be to help the receiving member retain their focus, so ensure than all the information is received and remembered. Than no one would- or should- need to repeat things… like Cyril. It could also be to ensure than the other party is actively attempting to hear whatever you have to tell them"

"I agree there," the purple drake said, nodding with Cynder.

"Lastly, I suppose it just helps others visualize what you're telling them. If you could get a picture with the words, wouldn't you be able to grasp the concept more easily?"

"I suppose."

"It'd get recorded in your brain as both a picture and words," she chimed, tapping the back of her paw in two spots.

"Yeah, that does sound better than just hearing it."

"You wanna know the best part though?" Spyro tore his eyes away from Cynder's paws and back to her face. He was about to ask what, and even began the action by opening his mouth. However, his unseen enthusiasm was held back when Cynder leaded in close to him and whispered.

"It just worked on you."

Spyro remained still for a couple more seconds after Cynder pulled her face away from him. Then… from the sky! Shooting down through the atmosphere, faster than lightning! With power equal to that of the ancestors! Spyro was _smited_! Smitten with the unwavering, unending, _uncontrollable_ force owned by none other than mentality itself! Now, sitting upon his face, was an expression of pure annoyance. _Neutrality_.

"Thanks…" he mumbled. "Thank you, _so_ much."

"You're welcome!" came Cynder's mockingly upbeat response.

Spyro released an over exaggerated sigh, whose sound was whisked away by the hum of the wind against their wings; that, and the _woosh_ created by a sudden mountain peak that passed just feet beneath them.

"So," Cynder's maw adding emphasis on the vowel, "is there anything else you want to talk about or..?" She was staring off blankly in a south-eastern direction, attempting to draw inspiration from the endless wash of bright blue, cloudless sky. But when none came, she tilted her head to the left and eyed Spyro- who was still skulking in silence- for movement. When even that failed to exist, Cynder decided to create her own topic. Which, in actuality, ment she was going to keep up the story train.

"Hey, Spyro?"

"Hm?"

"Do you want to hear the other five stories Hunter told me? Then, you'll at least be caught up."

Silence.

"Sure, why not."

"Alright! This next one is about a mole named Ikah and his weapon, Atlas's gauntlets…"

In truth, Spyro didn't really want to hear another story; Cynder and Hunter could make all the references they want. He honestly just wanted to think a bit more. His mind was mainly on the topic of his companion- still- and how differently she had been acting from three weeks ago up to now. He knew this was a repeat of his previous derailed thought train, but since then, he had gathered a tiny bit more information.

"...this all happened only weeks before Warfang was built, but don't worry, we'll get to that. So, the Atlawas were in a civil war and the mole kingdom was pressed to take a side…"

He also knew that what he was doing was incredibly _rude_ and insensitive, but the current task of mental dissections was _much_ more important. He could start from two bases: How Cynder was before Malefor defeat and how she was after. Personally, he prefered her how she was before… was that wrong? He was happy that she was free! Of course he was happy for that, but her attitude in general? She just seemed more… _tactless_. It really wasn't that bad, though at some point it became a little bit annoying. Like the past day for example. Cynder had completely _dominated_ all conversations and when he _did_ try to input his own comments, she either shot them down with a cannon blast or just flat-out ignored them.

"...at just like that, _BOOM_! The entire wall was separated from the cliff-face and fell into the ocean. Ikah was sent flying, but acting on pure instinct, he grabbed the closest flying rock and thrust himself off it! He flew like a comet, descending on the opposing Atlawa's with a fury…"

Why was it that she had turned into such a control freak? Was this really Cynder's real personality? Had it just been suppressed by her want… no, _need_ , to defeat Malefor? If so, then he didn't really know what to think. But Spyro didn't lose faith in her. Some part of him was still holding on to the idea that this was just a repercussion of her excitement. Like an extended form of her tactical side, when it had evolved into a leader-esque role.

"...as the dust cleared, a massive stone golem stood in the middle of the clearing. At its center, the Atlawa cult leader sat frozen in a clear crystal. With a mighty roar, the immense creature lumbered forward…"

Or it could just be him, that was always a possibility. He did have a history of overreacting, mostly on the important things… to him. Anyways, if that thought was disregarded, than it had to be one of his already explored ideas. Or she was trying to prove something…

"...crashed to the ground. The citizens of Tall Plain gathered around the body of the fallen god. Within the next second, a thunderous cheer rage out from the crowd. Unfortunately, no one noticed that Ikah was gone, nor did anyone seen the gauntlets half buried in the dirt… Spyro?"

But what would she be trying to prove? She was better at combat than him, better with her elements. She could call shots better than him. Really? What did she had to prove?

"Spyro."

Was it… heck! What was it! Could it be that she was attempting to show that she could lead to? Because most of the time he controlled what they did.

" _Huuu…_ Spyro _…"_

 _That's just stupid. She knows we both are equal in this!_

"Spyr- Waaa!"

"Wha- Woah!"

The abrupt appearance of a warm updraft caught both drake and dragoness in a disorienting upward spiral. Normally, such an occurrence would leave neither worse for wear, but this particular gust was especially powerful and it took them almost five seconds to correctly straighten out their flight patterns. Naturally, they looked down to see the cause of the problem, without need for words. The Belt of Annihilation, a previously giant river of lava running across the land. Now, rather than blasting forth waves and waves of fire and magma, impenetrable to all save for the deceased Fire Guardian, it was no more than a mile long ash-blackened line save for a small, _small_ amount of magma at the deepest area of the crevasse, just enough to cause an updraft.

"Well, at least there's an explanation," Cynder quipped. "Unlike that once incident. Remember?"

Spyro did indeed remember. It had happened while they were searching for the stock pile of Adamantine weights to lower the Cheetah fishing raft. It had been a _pain in the ass_ to save Meadow, and why they didn't just carry him he may never know. Honestly, they weren't _that_ small compared to the Cheetahs! Regardless, this was not what Spyro was _currently_ thinking about. At the moment, he was brooding… again.

Though, as a continuation to the 'again' statements, Cynder noted her partner's distress. "Hey look! Spyro! It's Warfang!"

Not the best distraction ever created, but it got the job done. By now, Cynder had a mental notepad of all the things that caused Spyro's _mood changes_. It was how she justified the hours of speaking that made her throat dry, at least now it was. The reason for the observation was so she could know what topics to avoid and what was okay for conversation. Within the last second, she had added their current location and their father figure.

"Yeah," Spyro commented, squinting in an attempt to make out any detail. However, the distance proved to far to make out anything small, but he could _definitely_ tell there were some missing towers…

"It only looks like a half day's travel from here. Do you think we can make it?"

"Well, if we pace ourselves… We could probably make it there by nightfall, since it's about noon."

" _Or_." Spyro felt his wings twitch at her tone of voice. He knew that tone. It was the same one Sparx used when they were younger, namely before he would run off, calling him fat…

" _We could_." He knew what was coming, one word. That one word that had been used time after time again for the past three weeks. But this time, he was prepared! Screw moping, forget sadness and disdain, he was going to _win this time_!

" _Race_?" It wasn't even a question. Therefore, Spyro didn't take it as one. Before the words had left her mouth he was off, shooting forward with a Comet Dash and empowering his wings with lightning. The sudden burst of flame created a small vacuum that forced Cynder to inadvertently close her eyes. Upon opening them, she was met with a ocean of dyed fresh linen and a small purple dot.

"Oh! I see how it is!" And Cynder took off with a smile.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Aetheo's Note:**

 **Hi again! I decided to keep the A. Sometimes, coincidences can be very happy! Other times they can be sad, like when foxes and cars are coincidentally in the exact same place at the exact same time. I like foxes…**

 **Anyways, This is an all dragon chapter. Specifically a dragon-we-do-not-own chapter. Future evil twins to be named "Sypro" and "Cen'd'yr"(Author notes fodder is always the most amusing. I'm interested to see how other people see them, as keeping to canon or not or as a joke, though I won't taint your responses with my own opinion.)**

 **Uhh… I can't think of anything soo… random fact time!**

 **Either neither nor or either or. Choose one.**

 **Did you know that I'm the only editor who actually makes story changes? I bet you didn't. Probably because no one cares.**

 **I** _ **am**_ **insane. My mother had me tested.**

 **That should be on a t-shirt. Along with a variety of other things.**

 **Half of my speaking sentences seem like they belong as a one-liner on a t-shirt.**

 **Yeah, that wasn't random. Just in bad taste.**

 **Here is where I shamelessly advertise my own writing, but if you're reading this, I don't think it's up to your standards of detail, and you should probably look elsewhere. Should someone care, I'll probably put it in one of the things eventually.**

 **Lastly. I, like the author, apologize for the absence and complete lack of communication. We both, even if no one else is going to, are going to work overtime for a few (6, if the author's math is to be trusted) weeks to try to bring you the same number of chapters as were missed. Thank us when we actually manage it. (Edit: Nope, didn't happen. Fucking author.)**

 **PS: Listening to some beautiful piano music for 12 hours today. I would call it a bad decision, but I find myself unable to regret a decision that resulted in finding just how many ridiculously talented people are on the internet these days. Keep it up, piano people.**

 ***7:45 after finishing the final preparations***

 **OKAY! What Aetheo said was true, we are going to be picking up the pace on chapter release for a few weeks to get back into a proper schedule. That means we should, by all means, with no excuse, be posting a chapter every Sunday for the next six weeks. So prepare to be compensated on. (Aetheo Edit: Or not.) (Yeah, fuck me. That totally didn't happen.)**

 **Lastly, for those who actually looked at it. I took V.R. down because eww, it needs work to even stand up to my standards…**

 **Thanks for surviving the long dark.**

 **MakeSureToKnock**

 **Aetheo: And me!**

 **NO! Bad! Go back to your own timeline!**


	11. Alive, In A Way

**AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

 **Aetheo: I don't see this happening but he wants me to stop him in the middle**

 **HAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAAAAA**

 **Aetheo: Are you done?**

 **AHAAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

 **Aetheo: So… Author screaming. Disclaimer: We don't own anything, welcome ba~**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA**

 **Aetheo: ~ck. Welcome back. Fucking… he's back. For however long.**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH…**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Alive… In a way.**

Opening one's eyes after a long night's sleep is a _very_ taxing venture. However, one may think: It can't be _that_ bad... I'm a tough guy, the night doesn't phase me! Well, Kein Madalis, the _best_ hypothetical Optometrist, was the _only_ person anyone could need in regards to all such questions. He could explain what it's like simply opening one's peepers in the morning, midday, or at night. He could tell people what being _blind_ looks like and even how to make their vision as sharp as an eagle's! He might even share some of his past experiences with eye related-topics! Such as the time where absolutely no color existed at all or the instant in which a great white _sun_ had invaded his entire field of view and set his whole body ablaze with its false fire of mental pain...

Yup… pretty great.

Seriously, though, it hurt. _Terribly_. No flash of bright light in the middle of the night could even remotely compare to this. This ridiculous level of irritation. But not just his sense of sight- no, _all_ of his senses were afire. His ears were so sensitive that as he writhed upon the ground, he could hear the dirt shift and crunch beneath the grass. His nose was both detecting his own scent, and distinguishing how much it contrasted with everything else. He could taste the roof of his own mouth for fuck's sake! Even his skin! _All of it_! Stung like he'd been caught in the blast of a _fucking supernova_. Not even his broken arm could hold a candle to the pain everything else put out!

But despite the suddenness and intensity of it, the pain did begin to die... _slowly_ , and as such, Kein began to recover from his body-wide 'paralyzation.' His vision cleared, going from what could only be described as "inverse blindness" to a more reasonable "indistinct blur of color". His ears and nose remembered that all the extra information was unnecessary, and went back to being reasonable. Finally, his skin undid its fiery transformation and no longer screamed at him to tear it off. Obviously, this didn't stop his body from quaking and his breathing to be shallow and shaky. But, nevertheless, it was certainly a welcome reprieve.

Unraveling himself from the fetal position, Kein spread out on the ground and focused his eyes. He needed no extra confirmation that he was back in the 'real' world instead of the colorless one from minutes before, seeing as the first splotch of color he saw was very much _green_. Which was a... "good" sign, but was also not what he was thinking about. Rather, he remembered... he remembered crashing head-over-heels with his kidnapper into one of the many black voids. Not a fond memory… whatever those were.

Regardless of the memory's 'taste,' it did remind him of one fact: the frost fucker was very much still a thing and, as far as he could judge, it was still nearby. Jumping forth, Kein began to search the immediate area, panicking. The key colors he was looking for? Blue, in all its forms.

After getting a fair start from the sky, he sighed and fell back down. Closing his eyes, Kein grit his teeth and absentmindedly grabbed the grass with his left hand; thinking about nothing more than how much he absolutely _hated_ that flying fuck of an icicle. This turned out to be a mistake, as not a fraction of a second later did the arm respond with a stabbing protest. The outcry of his limb ripped a gasp from the lying man, followed by the instantaneous release of his clenched fist.

Nostrils flaring, Kein turned to the side and drug his eyes up his sleeve; his pupils shrunk at the sight laid before his eyes. He had known that his arm was broken- completely or not was the unknown factor, but from what he could see, it certainly _wasn't_ just cracked. Kein shakily poked his arm, tracing the ripped fabric of his sleeve over the _forty-five-degree_ fracture in his arm. At this point, he couldn't even muster the consciousness to become queasy and instead just stared, mind going wild and blank at the same time while he thought about the absolute clown fiesta he was in.

He was the epitome of fucked. His body was fucked, his mind was in a state of fucking panic, and whatever soul that had existed was surely beaten to death _and_ fucked. On top of being fucked, he had no idea what to do or where he was going to go. His last attempt at finding civilization ended in getting lost and beaten half to death by the most _uncivilized_ thing imaginable! He was hungry, he was thirsty, his clothing was tattered and torn. Plus, just to add insult to injury, he _really_ had to pee! He was the _epitome_ of _fucked_.

Yet, he could do nothing, well, _almost nothing_ , about it. So here he was, sitting down, aching in places he'd never ached before, with barely a clue as to what he'd do next, let alone what all those aching parts were even _called_.

 _First, just get up._ _Get up and look around_. Grasping the ground, Kein pulled his body to the side- taking great care to make sure that his left arm was safely tucked up to his chest. Somehow managing to successfully pull himself up, Kein brought his knees underneath him. The result was a badly damaged man crouching on the side of a small hill in the middle of _another_ clearing. Blinking rapidly, Kein began to soak in the surrounding area. The hill he sat upon was incredibly small, maybe only two meters from the lowest to highest points. There was a small tree- barely past the definition of a sapling- in the middle, shadowed by a singular, squarish rock.

The surrounding treeline seemed like the same forest from before, if slightly less dense, and comprised of the oaks that had become _far_ too familiar. From the direction he was staring- past the small tree and rock- he could just see a small stream that broke the tide of brush.

Kein swallowed as the word 'water' echoed within his mind. Without thought, he placed his arms on the ground. A muffled scream seethed from his mouth followed by a generous helping of curses. Taking a moment to steady himself, Kein refocused his attention on his arm. There was no way he could do anything with it like this. The bone _needed_ to be set, not just so it would heal properly but also so his dwindling sanity would be spared, if only slightly more.

With a goal now in the forefront of his mind, Kein looked ahead of him. The tree was practically taunting him with its youthful health and exuberance. Despite this, he had a use for it, regardless of how foolhardy it was.

Pushing himself up, Kein began to shuffle forward across the grass. He managed to make it halfway through his arduous journey, but unfortunately, the halfway point was also when his legs began to fail him. Faster than he could react, his left knee locked up and crashed to the ground. The sudden impact gave him a start, coupled with the jolt of pain in his broken arm, shook his instincts enough to force him to attempt to stand erect. This only served to continue tripping him over and over, repeating ad infinitum, until, with a sudden imbalance, Kein began to tilt. Disregarding what he would have normally done in this situation, he instead did what most others would have- stuck his right arm out.

However, there was, luckily, or unfortunately- depending on whose point of view- there turned out to be no need for this. Why? Well, seeing that the first thing his body hit was not the dirt, but rather a wooden pole of nature, his hand just slid past it.

His face, on the other hand.

"Fuuuu- _huhuhuhu_ \- ck..." Naturally, Kein's right arm wrapped around the trunk in an attempt to keep himself steady. He still slid down it, there was no way of avoiding _that_ , but at least it wasn't painful. Well, as painful as falling would have been. He hoped. Landing with a faint groan and slipping off the tree, he fell directly on the rock beneath. Forthwith, that rock became his new seat for the next few minutes.

Refocusing through the eventually receding pain, Kein peered down at his arm. Recovering his previous thought, most people knew how to set a bone, either out of common sense or proper education. Pull it out a tad and pop it back into place. The only problem being that Kein would be doing it _himself_ and the body does _not_ want to hurt itself, even if the pain _is_ for its own betterment.

"Everyt~hing has to be soo- _ah_ , difficult," he mumbled and straightened his chest to face the small tree, barely thinking past the most basic of mechanical movements in his fugue state. "Everything ju-... just has to be difficult."

Having lined himself up, Kein glanced up and down the trunk. He was going to use it as the 'second person' in this instance, resting his arm on an extremely convenient branch and gripping onto it with his broken arm. He would then leaning back and pop it back into place. It was a _painfully_ simple plan, but before any of that could happen, he needed to get his arm _up_ there. Kein reached down and grabbed his left wrist. Moving monotonously, he brought his arm to eye level and rested it between the branch and the trunk. Then, he froze.

For some reason, when his arms were at eye level they seemed _much_ worse. It could have been the unobstructed lighting or the fact that he could see the whole arm rather than a top-down view, but either way. It. Was. _Disgusting_. Kein had to bend his chin to touch his chest just to keep his stomach's contents separated from all the other disgusting bodily fluids to avoid the "cauldron of repeated vomiting" scenario. The sickly maroon of the blood was _very_ clear now and it splattered across every inch of his sleeves; half-clotted in some places, flowing freely in others, and everything in between. This juxtaposition of coagulation with free flow created mushy blobs that regularly slipped down his jacket and hit the rock beneath him with grotesque squelches. The rips in the fabric only served as additional points of congealment, areas where the blood would pool and half-harden as if attempting to seal an imaginary wound.

He saw that his coat fared no better. It too was covered in the unknown blood of his attacker. Fortunately, it only seemed to saturate the top half of the cloth, _un_ fortunately, it _also_ made it seem as if someone had sliced his neck wide open. Kein brought a hand to cover his exposed throat, only to pull it back when his palm touched the groups of platelets that had gathered there in chunks. Abruptly, a thick strand of his hair fell over his face. On its tip hung what was appeared to be a walnut-sized lump of blood. Reacting as it fell, Kein caught it in his hand. Looking it over for a moment, his face scrunched up in righteous disgust and the clot slipped through his fingers to join its useless friends on the stone.

Having _finally_ registered what he was drenched in, Kein turned to the side and promptly vomited.

There was a significant delay as Kein thoroughly thought about what he was going to do and what could happen if he did it wrong.

And threw up.

The sounds it would make.

And barfed.

Just the pure imagery itself.

His stomach had nothing else to give...

 _CRACK!_

There was a yelp, followed by a loud _thud_ as Kein fell, face first, tucking the broken limb between himself, his right arm, and the ground. Another wave of silence broke over the clearing as Kein began to chew the dirt he was lying across. Secondary lesson learned: Don't clench your teeth next to the ground. The primary lesson learned was fairly evident: Do _not_ do that without some sort of sedative. The feeling he was experiencing was not normal pain, but more a stomach-wrenching sense of vertigo that turned his insides into outsides. It was like someone had hit him in the gut with an invisible mallet, but his gut was actually his arm and the mallet was really the one held by cartoon characters who think you can survive the power of their massively gargantuan gumdrop hammers...

But in spite of that; in spite of the pain, the nausea, the breathlessness. He heard something.

Over his own labored breath, over the rustling leaves and the _swoosh_ of the grass, even over his own heart as it pounded on his ribs, he heard it: a scraping sound, like a knife against shingles… a noise Kein wished he didn't remember. Unlike the last time, it was rapid: a natural motion, like someone rubbing their hands or brushing their teeth. Regardless, it was unnerving: the thought of there being another creature in the clearing with him, especially in his current state, weakened and broken with little chance of escape. Unfortunately for his adrenal gland and fear reflex, his natural need to know took over, and he raised his head.

Lying no more than five meters away was one of _those_ things… One of those scaly, colorful, excessively violent, ice-flinging fucksticks. Kein stopped breathing, his eyes locked on the beast lying in front of him. His body and mind went numb, the only thing even slightly contrasting to his panic being the pulse of his arm against his chest.

It was just... _sitting_ there, eyes half-lidded, biting the side of its lip, _scratching_ the underside of its arm like it didn't have a care in the world. At this point, the creature's appearance meant nothing, but somewhere, deep within his subconscious, one thing stood out, and that was that this thing was _a lot_ smaller than his previous combatant. With this small comfort in the back of his mind, Kein's hair stood _that much less_ on edge.

It was also around this time in which the smaller version of the blue bitch finally acknowledged he had moved. With melodrama rivaling that of a toddler, the creature _slowly_ began to stop scratching itself, taking a full five seconds to finally halt the motion.

Then it _laughed_ …

A _full on titter_ …

It took Kein a good second to realize that the thing had straightened its body and dropped its head between its forelegs. From that moment, it began to laugh a muffled, sickly gleeful laugh. By now, Kein felt no more pain, nor any shock or panic, he was just… _blank_. He wanted to be scared, he wanted to get up and run, to get as far away from this _white thing_ as possible, but the blood-stained man found himself locked in an ongoing battle between the absolute insanity of what was happening and his own instincts.

Then, with a speed refuting the very existence of the speed at which it started, the creature stopped its laughing and stood. Kein scrambled his arms into position and forced himself upward, only to stumble back when his legs failed to balance properly. Without really thinking, Kein began to backpedal on the ground. Justifying this ex-post facto, not long after he fell, the black-and-white quadruped-thing began walking toward him.

Kein _panicked_ when he felt his back hit the tree behind him. Using it as a means to steady himself, he thrust his body upwards and to the left, just to trip.

The panic doubled!

Out of sheer cliche, he turned to see what had stopped him. It was a void. One of the voids from the darkness. Only, this one was _visibly sucking his foot into the abyss of doom_ , and it seemed that no amount of pulling would free it.

Triple panic bonus round!

As Kein fully realized his position and the crunching of grass got closer, he closed his eyes and rotated his body, hatred crossing his face as he prepared to go out with even the most infinitesimal amount of dignity. But when no killing blow came, he blinked.

It was in front of him, that was easy enough to see. However, the distance between them is what startled him. They couldn't have been no more than a meter apart, the thing was practically touching his folded legs! On top of the obvious, he could tell that it was examining him. Yet, strangely enough, despite its interest, he noted its expression to be rather blasé. No hatred, no disgust, and certainly no blind rage. Not that he was complaining. Kein would much rather be critically judged by the unknown rather than killed by it.

To put it simply, it was black and white. And while details weren't exactly the most prominent thing in his mind at the moment, it was _easy_ to tell that this thing was the _blackest of black_ and the _whitest of white_. The kinds of hues that seemed invulnerable to outside alteration. These colors were perfect inverses of each other, with white being the base and black the accent- body, then chest and underbelly respectively. And while the white was clearly the dominant color, that didn't stop small specks of black from peppering about the creature's body.

While this one was smaller than the last, Kein had no doubt that it was still stronger than him. Kein might be able to outrun it, due to his better maneuverability. At the same time, that part really wasn't even an important point of reference because it had _wings_ \- but hey, positivity, right?

Of course, this was not what was currently occupying the forefront of Kein's thoughts. Rather, he was thinking about the multitude of different ways this monster could kill him. Which included and weren't limited to: four, slightly curved ivory horns that would have absolutely no problem goring him; a nice set of very sharp claws that looked well used; surprisingly clean teeth; and a diamond-shaped, seemingly _metal_ blade that hung threateningly on the end of its whip-like tail. Oh. And _magic fucking ice powers._ Can't forget those.

These creatures were literally murder incarnate.

By the time Kein concluded his observational trance, he found that the thing was still staring at him almost expressionlessly- it seemed to have not finished its own inspection of him. A fact that it made a little bit too apparent by slowly stepping forward and stretching its neck over Kein's legs- placing its muzzle only a few centimeters from his face. At that point, their eyes locked. Kein peered into the purple eyes of a possible enemy and said 'enemy' forced an unbroken squint into his own. Abruptly, it backed off to the original distance and stood, only to begin walking around him and studying the rest of his frame from all angles.

Fortunately for Kein's sanity, after completing one full revolution, it stopped and sat back down. For a brief moment the two stared at each other again, all while maintaining their own small fidgets. The creature's tail was whipping back and forth, almost like a cat's, lacking only the sharp _flick_ with each swipe and Kein was slowly, weakly, kneading the underarm of his jacket.

The second sudden movement of the creature was luckily on a smaller scale, its expression contorting into one of surprise before quickly dropping back down into its seemingly habitual demeanor of dispassion. It appeared, however, that the change was not directed at him, but more due to something behind it. Seeing that a moment later the creature shot its tail out in a random direction, brought it up, and turned around.

It stayed in that position for a few more seconds, obviously intrigued by what Kein assumed was now placed upon its tail. Just as the question entered his brain, it was answered. As it turned around, he could see a brown, red-stained driver's cap dangling on the pointed tip of its tail. _His_ driver's cap.

Kein had little time to react before the cap was flicked at his face. With a quiet _fump_ , the hat hit his turned head and fell into his lap. Casting his eyes downward, a thoroughly shocked twenty-year-old grasped the age-old cap in his fist, hardly noticing the creature walk further down the hill to pick up something else.

 _What the fu-_ Kein began to wonder before a nondescript _thud_ sounded before him. Looking up listlessly, he found his satchel. Standing over the satchel was the thing. It held an equally- if not more listless expression. Kein's jaw dropped slightly, allowing only the smallest of flies to enter. The thing didn't really seem to care and once again began to circle him.

 _What the fuuuuuuuck_.Kein had no idea how to take the last couple seconds. On one hand, he wanted to be terrified. He wanted to just up and leave and not look back and whatever else included noping the fuck out of a situation. On the other hand he… he really had no idea. Everything was just so _backward_ from the last encounter. From the way it had been up to this point. So he had yet to even formulate an other hand.

It was at this moment that Kein squealed a most manly squeal. It was one thing to get that sense of being watched and having your neck hairs stand on end, it's another thing to actually have something watching you and be _touched on the neck_ by the thing watching you. With the sudden burst of adrenaline that pouring through his veins, Kein shot upward. At the same time, his shoulders jumped up to block the sides of his neck and his working hand snatched up his satchel and slung it over his shoulder.

 _Thud_.

Having completed the basic checklist of actions he would take every time something foreign and invisible touched his body, Kein froze. Regaining his awareness, he looked down at his bag which had conveniently landed leaning against his right leg. Disregarding its existence, he slowly turned around to face the thing he knew was there. It looked as if nothing had happened… at least, nothing that concerned it. It was actually scrunching its snout in a way that portrayed contemplation. Then and there, Kein realized what had just happened.

 _Right, it sniffed me,_ he then sat down next to his satchel and planted his face in his hand. _Sniff, sniffy… sniff. Okay, fine._

Kein, once again, had absolutely _zero_ ideas as to what was happening. He had no idea know how to deal with the pain he was in. He had no idea how to deal with his blood-soaked body. He had no idea how to deal with the thought of being near the _small white bitch_ without panicking. And he certainly had no fucking idea where the hell he was going to go after all this. And so, having not a clue, Kein did the only thing that came to mind. Which was to simply disregard everything, close his aching eyes, and lay back onto the grass.

And so he did.

Unfortunately for Kein, it was around this time in which the incessant examination of the creature became just too much to bear, as it had decided to steal away his most important item. His satchel, and related objects.

Surprisingly, Kein had watched this happen and, up until the point in which it had opened the cloth bag, had done nothing to stop it. However, that changed rather quickly when he realized the full extent of what was going on.

Forcing himself to sit forward, Kein reached out and grabbed for the closest part of his satchel. Pulling it back to him and holding it close, he looked up and cast a glare at the monster who would dare touch his bag full of private material and personal pictures. It glared back.

It was at this point that Kein realized what he did. He had just taken something from the most probably violent creature he knew, just because. There was a small chuckle in the back of his mind, the kind of chuckle that, if spoken aloud, could only be taken as an 'Oh, fuck' chuckle. But contrary to the amount of times the words 'I'm dead' appeared in his mind, not one move to confirm that belief was made by the creature. Instead, it merely _shrugged_ and moved away.

Kein didn't move from his last position for the next several seconds. He had almost _died_ … _again_. And over what? A bloody, ripped, over-glorified piece of cloth!? Yeah, sure- that cloth contained some of his most fond and exciting memories, but really!? Dying for it!? His priorities were _fucked_.

Taking a deep breath, Kein ran his fingers through his hair. An action that turned from exasperated to disgusted in a matter of centimeters. Having not the ability to be any more sick, he simply wiped the clotted substance off in the grass, which did little to cleanse his hand, and even less to ease his mind.

Recalling a previous thought, Kein looked to the right and caught an unobstructed view of the stream he so desperately needed. Looking back, he caught a view of the creature that seemed to give less than zero shits about him. Weighing his options was rather unnecessary, and with a small 'fuck it,' Kein began to pick himself up.

* * *

Kein had been walking for an _hour and a half_. An hour and a half of shuffling over hills, rocks, streams, the occasional fallen log, and whatever else decided that a nice, flat pathway was a crime against nature. And if that wasn't annoying enough, he was being _followed_ by the white creature that had so lovingly introduced him to the true meaning and power of the concept of silent criticism. Seeing as whatever he did was watched _very closely_ by it. Meaning he _still_ had to pee!

It wasn't even making any noise as it followed a few feet behind him, or in front of him, or just flat out next to him. Fuck, sometimes it would just disappear for minutes on end, just to reappear in the next clearing, for literally no reason at all.

The most Kein had gotten out of it was a somewhat disgusted ' _hmmm_ ' when he found another one of those orange/mango trees and tried to eat some of the fruit! Out of a _hour and a half_ , that was _it_.

Of course, this had given him the slightest amount of trepidation about eating it, before considering that this thing was carnivorous and most likely saw all fruit that way. The only real problem he saw with eating the fruit was that he would most likely get diarrhea if he ate too much of it… Regardless, and luckily for him, the fruit was easier to get and was good enough for consumption. Or, at least, it hadn't killed him yet- a plus in his book.

Strangely enough, Kein was actually compelled to share his findings with the creature. However, that thought was dashed faster than the rabbit the thing brought back after disappearing for five minutes.

The reason for this shift in attitude towards the thing was due to some realizations and other observation he had made. Things such as: How the hell he survived being nearly beheaded, opening his eyes to see nothing more than blackness, and the sudden appearance of this thing. By this point, Kein knew that it was this black and white creature than saved him, there was no doubt about that. The better questions were _why_ and _how_. His main idea for that was the whole 'powers' thing he'd witnessed with the ice fuck. Thinking that, if that one could spit ice and control the shit like a totalitarian government's internal police force, then this one had to be able to do something similar. Right?

With this in mind, he began hoping against hope that color coding of creatures was indeed a thing here. Luckily, that idea could be backed up a bit more than most, due to the slight memory of him struggling against something in the blackened world that was definitely _not_ the size of the ice one, and since his current... _traveling companion_ ,was the only other creature of its type he had seen, it was safe to assume that it was indeed this one that had created the black void _somehow_ , and it was that 'somehow' clause the Kein really didn't want to think about right now.

That still didn't answer the questions of how and why or _where_ this one came from, or the other one for that matter. How long that it been following him to jump in like that at the last second!? Kein would assume that, since the first one attacked him, this one _should_ have done the same, but it didn't. What did that mean? It was easy to see that this thing was interested in him, but was that _it_? It didn't really settle well with Kein, the idea that the only reason that this… emotionally _devoid_ creature had saved him was that he was _mildly_ interesting. But that begged the question, how long had it been following him in order to take up that curiosity?

Kein couldn't really judge the attention span of this creature. Not that he really wanted to, but figuring out if it truly was interested in him or was just saving him for later was impossible, so he hoped for the former.

"Oh, Jesus…" Kein murmured to himself, his mind wandering a bit too far in the opposite direction. Despite this, the simple action of thinking reminded him that he was not only _not_ alone, but was also walking along the side of a river at the bottom of a large, grassy canyon.

He'd already taken in the scenery of the expansive valley, and in all honestly, it was quite a beautiful place. Beautiful in a crazily unnatural way. The rock walls that protected their lush innards were no more than thirty to forty meters high in some places and looked like giant, moss-covered, vine-coated stepping stones. Strangely enough, there were also hoodoos… rock hoodoos whose tops were also covered in grass and sides held vines. They seemed oddly appropriate for the surroundings and were most definitely the things that held Kein's eyes for the longest.

The actual dimensions of the valley were unclear to him. However, from what he could see, its length could be no more than half a kilometer long and maybe a quarter of one wide, so it was larger than the meadow from early that day. The river that ran cut the place in half curved in some places and peeled off land from one side, only to give it to the other and do the inverse further down. The one thing he found odd about it was that was that the river had no bank, it just fell off a small, maybe two-meter high cliff down into the water.

As for where he- and the thing- were, compared to it: they were positioned on the right side of the seven-meter wide rush of water and walking downstream. The water itself- seeing as it was clearly an important thing to note- was the same crystal blue he had encountered in his first minutes here and the only thing that fed it was the waterfall to their back.

Lastly, the only foliage in the entire expanse, other than the piles of grass, was the grouping of trees that were placed as far away from the river as possible, along with their bush companions. Of course, they were _oak trees_ , but hey, he didn't really care anymore. The only thing that actually got to him was the fact that most of the trees were as far from the water as possible. It didn't really make much sense. Since they were all situated under the canyon walls, they would only get half as much sunlight. Plus, as far as he could tell, water was drinkable, if a bit sweet, so there was no reason why the trees and bushes should remain away from it. There were some exceptions, of course, but the majority ruled in favor of the strange separation.

By now, they had walked over three-quarters of the way across the valley and were nearing the cliff-face on the other side. During their time walking, Kein noted- other than the scenery- some other things about his colorless acquaintance that connected with his previous thoughts. Mostly random things, but noteworthy nonetheless.

The first thing that he had really gotten, and never really appreciated until now, was the height difference between them. Kein was a hundred and ninety centimeters tall, which was a fair height. This thing, however, was about that long in _length_ , from the tip of its nose to the end of its tail- _discounting_ the blade. Height-wise it was only maybe one hundred and thirty, so how the hell did it carry him? Because Kein _knew_ he was being carried in the dark realm place.

That, on top of a few body related details, such as the weird splotches of white that randomly appeared on its otherwise black wing membranes, the black diamonds that were found on all its major joints, and the two sets of frills it had, one set resting on the top of its head to the bottom of its neck and the other starting on the lower half of its back to the beginning of its tail.

Kein was also hyper-aware of the creature also taking mental notes on his own actions, like how it would stare at him whenever he touched his face- which had grown a new smattering of hair- or how he would rearrange the items in his bag when he felt something poking his ribs.

Luckily, nothing of major significant happened for the remainder of the time they traveled to the opposite side of the valley. Upon reaching the other side, Kein huffed. The river he and the thing had been following was no more… though closer inspection revealed that the water had in fact disappeared, rather than ceased to exist. It hit the rock wall and tunneled underneath. Knowing that was no way in hell he was going to see where it went, Kein turned his attention to the stony face. It was covered in vines, like every other surface here, and was maybe ten meters shorter than the cliffs in the middle of the valley. Still, his arm was broken and there weren't any other immediate ways up. So in response to this new obstacle, Kein turned around- completely disregarding the flaring wings from _the thing_ \- and found the nearest fallen log.

Upon situating himself so that the whole of the meadow was apparent to him, Kein removed the satchel from his shoulder and placed it in front of himself. From there, he opened the flap and pulled out his binder. At this point, he proceeded to go about the task of sketching out the valley- holding the paper still with the flat of his palm- to his front. Not long after he started, the bichromatic creature pulled itself up to his right flank and sat down. It seemed genuinely interested in what he was doing, rather than its usual blasé, faked attempt at caring, and was attempting to get a better look at the paper.

Thinking within the moment, and therefore with no frame of reference for what he was doing, Kein turned the paper. He had _no idea_ what compelled him to do so and judged the stupidity of his own action silently. However, his brooding mood was dissolved when the paper was suddenly stolen from his hands. Snapping back to reality, Kein found not only his recently started sketch- which consisted of nothing more than a myriad of lines- but his pencil too had been taken by the creature, who was examining each with great fascination.

It was at this moment, Kein knew. He had no idea what had kept him from his conclusion before, nor did he know how the hell this was actually happening. Either way, he now knew what he was looking at, what was sitting beside him in an absolutely uncaring manner, what this 'thing' that had saved him was.

There was a subtle movement to the side as the now newly identified _dragon_ reared back onto its haunches and began to fiddle with the pencil with both of its paws. Kein blinked several times in newfound awe, and as confirmation to his beliefs, he began to rapidly flip his binder to one section in particular.

 _Yup_ , he quipped to himself as he gazed down of the multitude of self-designed drawings containing the mythical beasts. _Of course it is, Kein. You idiot_. Clearly, he didn't really know whether to designate it as a dragon, wyvern, or wyrm... but in all honesty, who was really sure which was which? To him, at least, this thing fit best under the category of a dragon.

There was a pause in his thought process when a very obvious ripping sound came from his right. Looking down, he gazed upon an obviously _surprised_ white and black dragon with his pencil situated between two of his claw. For a moment, Kein got a mental image of holding a pencil with chop sticks, but that was quickly vanquished when the dragon turned to him and a piece of paper with a hole in it was held before him.

 _Right_ , he thought, picking the paper off the end of the pencil carefully. Acting only due to the terrifying familiarity of the action, Kein reached over to his binder and slowly pulled out two more pieces of paper. Snapping the rings closed, he set one in front of himself and grabbed a spare notebook. Then, placing the book on the ground, he handed the paper to the dragon, who was waiting with one paw out like it was expecting him to comply. Without even a single noise between them, the drake… dragon… thing! placed the paper on the notebook and turned away.

Kein clapped his hands absentmindedly. Mind-numb, he picked another pencil- one that wasn't broken- out of his coat pocket and began to draw. After a good thirty minutes of sketching- an extended amount of time because half of the drawing wasn't sky- Kein refitted the hole punched paper back into his binder. He had already turned to see what the dragon had done- it having left about halfway through the process to do god knew what. The paper was covered in little more than a few lines in seemingly specific orders, portraying symbols. Regardless, he picked it up off the ground and tabbed in under the over-full section labeled 'What the fuck was I thinking?'. Even now, he was thinking of revisiting the section, tabbing the rest of them under merely 'Confusing' and this new piece all alone in the division.

Following the path back took him directly to the cliff face. Stopping next to the waiting creature, Kein began to consider the ways by which he could climb up its face. Taking his arm into consideration, his first thought was to just walk around it, and by that, he meant take one of the multitude of steep paths he saw littered around the valley. The problem with that plan was the amount of time it would take. It was around six or seven in the afternoon, and, luckily, the sun had yet to set fully. Despite this, it was still getting darker and he really didn't want to get caught stumbling around up hills like those at night.

He knew there was no way he was going to be able to climb it, even if there were small ledges he could stop to take respites at. He didn't carry rope in his satchel, because that would be absurd, nor did he have any other sort of climbing gear, like a pick or pitons. Tom's knife wouldn't help him at all, so he really only had two options, try to climb it, or hopefully make it somewhere meaningful by dark.

 _Fuuush!_

 _Or that!_ A deep scowl set upon Kein's face as his hair was blown back by the rush of air and his eyes settled on the now flying dragon. _Because I can_ totally _do that!_

Kein threw his hand up as it reached the top of the cliff. What a bitch! Just leaving him down here like that! Though, in all reality, he didn't really know what he had expected. It just showed up and saved him, it could fuck off if it wanted to– it wasn't like he could really stop it! But the sad part was Kein had grown slightly accustomed to it being next to him while he walked. Strange, true, but it was more of an 'okay, I'm alone… what the fuck now?' kind of feeling than any kind of betrayal. Of course, just thinking it did little to satisfy him or stop him from verbally sharing his opinion.

"What the _hell_ do you expect _me_ to do? It's not like I can _fly_!"

He waited, staring upwards at the edge of the rock face, not really expecting any response to come. So it came as quite a surprise when a white face peeked out from over the stone and looked down at him. For the longest time, nothing happened. They just stared at each other… blinking…

"I didn't expect you to _suck_ at dealing with _every_ obstacle we encounter!" It shouted.

There was a pause. Kein's eyes squinted menacingly, then he threw his arm back up and turned. "Fine! I'll just find a different way around!"

In all honesty, he didn't really care that a creature that could be visually considered a beast spoke back to him. Even past that point, it was so insignificant that putting effort into being shocked was a waste of time. It wasn't really all that bad anyways. The whole event could be given the analogy of talking to a dumb, in the 'in the unable-to-speak' sense, person, only to find out that they were just pranking you for shits and giggles. That, or adding more mud on a mud pie as decoration. Sure, he was surprised, if only slightly, but any other reaction beyond that would be redundant. Plus, in all reality, what did it truly matter to him? His arm was broken! He was still more-than-slightly covered in blood! The fruit he was eating didn't even exist on Earth! Why would _this, of all things,_ matter!?

Kein was actually proud of himself for taking it such a logical manner– unlike the first encounter, where he had just shouted some words in his mind and said, 'yeah, that works'. Other parts of him were actually relieved. Finally, he had a method by which to annihilate the constant, mundane process of walking an unknown distance in silence. That, however, _was_ dependant on if the thing was willing to spark up a conversation. Still, there was hope. The only reason Kein wasn't turning around and attempting to do that right now was the mien of agitation he had to maintain in order to not seem contradictory to himself, as well as other people… dragon… things.

So when he heard the thud of feet just behind him, a small smile crossed his face, if only for a brief moment.

Unfortunately, now came the awkward part. It was great that it had been thoroughly established that his monochrome acquaintance could talk, but how was _he_ , a person who wasn't exactly famous for his social prowess, going to successfully converse with a creature whose existence denied all common knowledge? As far as Kein was aware, they had nothing in common other _than_ their existence in the same general space. What, was he going to have to pull some 'Good weather' bullshit? Or maybe, and hopefully, a topic with make itself apparent.

"You're not used to this, are you?"

 _Well, god bless the latter, but..._ Kein looked down to the creature, then to himself, the canyon walls, and finally the point of invisible space that went an infinite distance in front of him. "No."

"Thought so."

Kein was not the type of person to judge a book by its cover- save for the past two days, because the threat of death and all. However, just from the three sentences the creature had spoken so far, 'condescending' was the one and only word that came to mind. Of course, no one really likes a condescending person, and the same was certainly said for Kein, but his usual method of dealing with such people was to simply nod his head and move on. But due to the day prior, most of his original morals had been thrown out the window.

"Which part would make you think that?" Kein demanded. "Which one of the may parts?"

The creature put on a grimace. "Alright, fine. You don't have to get hostile about it."

Kein sighed and sat down on the nearest thing, which just so happen to be the log from before. "Look, man. I-" he stopped mid-sentence when something snapped beneath him. Reaching around, he pulled one-half of a broken pencil from his back pocket.

"I have _no_ fucking clue what's going on." Kein growled and chucked the shattered pencil into the closest treeline. "I have _no_ fucking clue where I am." He pulled the other half of the pencil out of his pocket and snapped it in half. "I have _no_ fucking clue how I got here." Kein threw the first piece. "I have _no_ fucking clue _why_ I'm here." Then the second. "Fuck! I don't even know what time it is!" He turned to the creature. "I've been guessing all god damn day!"

There was a brief moment of silence as Kein leaned forward into his palm, after which there was a small huff, followed by, "That sucks."

Kein instantly raised his head. Balling up his fist, he began to smack his own leg. "Yup!" He paused, "Really sucks!"

As Kein was groaning at the sky, the creature removed itself from the seated position in front of him. "I literally don't know where I am." It started to circle around the area they were in. "Everything I've seen has made… _no_ sense." It looked to the fading light in the sky, then at river they were situated near. "I don't even know what I'm going to do past this point… I-"

"Kein!"

Blinking, the man turned his head. The creature had left him mid monolog and had situated itself under the cliff face he'd given up on. "How do you-"

"Get over here!" It yelled, turning away. "You whiny sack of rocks…"

Kein didn't really know whether to be insulted by the… insult? Regardless, he did want he was told and began to walk over.

"Of course, I know your name. It's not like you've been talking to yourself for the past hour or anything." Kein wasn't exactly sure what to say at that point, so he just went with the obvious.

"You're an ass."

The creature turned to him. "And you're useless. Glad we came this understanding. Now hold still."

"Wha-" but before Kein could fully ask, it lifted off into the air and hovered over him.

"Alright, as much as I hate it, I'm going to need your help with this." Kein was, once again, going to question what it was even going to do, but he was, once again, cut off. "And yes, this is going to help."

"What are we even doing!?" Kein demanded before it could continue.

The creature growled. "Just shut up and listen!" Kein threw his hand in the air. "I need you to get as far up the cliff as possible."

"Wha- why?"

"Look! Do you want to spend another hour backtracking _just_ so you can get out of this valley, or do you want to spend the ten seconds this _should've_ taken to make it up this cliff?"

"Fuckin…" Throwing his hand in the air, Kein turned to the stone face. "Alright."

"Good," it began, "now as soon as you see me flying toward the cliff, start running."

"How is that going-?" At this point, Kein was very confused. But upon looked back for instruction, he saw that the creature was no longer there, but was, in fact, hundreds of feet in the sky. He was about to question what the actual fuck was the point of all of this, and he would have, had the creature not sudden dive bombed towards him.

The word 'shit' barely escaped his mouth before he started running, something that his legs were thoroughly unhappy about. Still, he managed to reach the wall in record time. Doing his best not to think about how stupid of an idea this was, Kein shifted his momentum and shoved off the ground. Using his past experience, he forced his toes into the cliff and thrust himself upwards. Upon feeling his loss of movement, Kein reached his hand as far up as possible and grasped the nearest vine. Slamming chest first into the stone, he grunted and desperately tried to find a foothold while his left arm tried just as hard to make him lose his current handhold.

This was exactly the position he didn't want to be in and was also the reason he hadn't tried his before. Kein had no idea why the thing would think he could even remotely climb a twenty-meter cliff face with a broken arm and aching muscles. Okay, maybe it didn't know either of those too things, but still!"

"Fucking, asshat." Kein quipped as he pulled himself higher. If this thing was going to make such a big deal about it, then fine! He'll try and climb a fucking cliff!

"Next time, I'll just walk around." Turning back and catching a glimpse of the 'master planner', he sighed, it was almost on top of him.

"I swear to god, if it pulls any more bullshit like this..."

With one final push, he threw himself upwards. Within the second, Kein felt a blast of wind and points of extreme pressure appear under his armpits. Before he even knew what was happening, the distance between him and the ground changed drastically and the cliff face flew by. All Kein could muster before he found himself hovering three meters above the cliff was a long string of the consonant 'f'. And with that, he was kicked in the back and sent hurling onto the grass at the top of the stone wall.

Not long after that, Kein found himself holding his broken arm and screaming 'son of a bitch' all while the creature pestered him by with insults.

"Seriously? That's as high as you could get?"

Kein got onto one knee and cringed. "Dude, fuck you!" Once fully standing, he looked down on the creature. "You couldn't have just told me that you were going to, oh, I don't know. Throw me up a fucking cliff!?"

"If I'd told you that, you wouldn't have done it!" It claimed self-righteously, stepping up to counter Kein's height. He actually couldn't deny that, seeing as it was most definitely true. Instead, he just chose to turn away, audibly forcing air out of his mouth. Walking to the nearest tree, Kein began to hit his head against it.

After finishing, he turned back to the expressionless creature and asked. "Why was that even necessary? It would have been just as 'easy' and _much_ less painful to just walk around!"

The thing just smiled. "You're a terrible listener." It said. "Plus, that valley is too open to camp in. There's a better place just over there."

"Camp? Wha… what the hell are yo-!"

 _Slap_.

"Are you even paying attention!?" The creature asked, setting its wing back into place. "You were complaining literally minutes ago about how you didn't know what time it was! If you seriously can't tell the difference between day and night, it's a miracle that you're not dead yet."

"You really are an ass."

"And you really are oblivious!" It stated and walked past him. "Now that we've discovered _even more_ about each other, how about we get moving before we're caught in the darkness and you die…"

And Kein had thought his brothers were bad. This thing didn't even have to do anything _physical_ to be the biggest jackass he'd ever had the _pleasure_ to meet. But despite any resentment he felt for the self-righteous creature, it was clear to him that it knew what it was doing, which was something _he_ was dearly lacking in. So without another word, Kein picked his hat up off the ground and followed.

It wasn't a long trip, maybe only a hundred or so meters. On the way, Kein saw exactly what he would have expected. Oak trees, bushes, rocks, nature… things like that. The only thing that really got him was the small stream on the top of the plateau, which made little sense considering how well formed it was. Regardless, he stepped over it.

Pushing aside a wall of green, Kein saw the creature standing at the edge of another cliff, looking down. Walking up next to it, he too looked out into the expansive valley in front of them.

This one was much like that one before. Sample stone walls covered in vines, same grass, only this place had many more of the hoodoos of larger sizes and the amount of rivers running through it was drastically higher. Of course, another important note was the was absolutely _gargantuan_ size of the valley, but hey, it's not like it could consume the entire city of Chicago and still have space for more…

Kein couldn't actually estimate the size of it- it was just that big! And the water, there was so damn much of it! How was the place not a swamp? The main body was water was one, _thoroughly massive_ river that cut straight down the middle of the place, being fed by an uncountable amount of inlets and glistening with a radiant silver hue. The inlets themselves came from every source possible, whether the water was spewing from the hoodoos themselves or just flat out being produced by springs, it was like SeaWorld™ on steroids. Even the river they had been following before was nothing more than a trickle in this valley's grand scheme to drown the world.

"In what way is this less open than the other valley?" Kein asked. Sure, there were more trees and they were situated around the hoodoos- due to their size- rather than just the cliff edges, but that didn't exactly put a dent in the openness of the place.

"It's not." Kein made appropriate motions of distaste. "It just gets us closer to our goal than we would've been had we stayed back there."

"And what _is_ our goal exactly."

The creature sighed. "Since everything _has_ to be broken up to you in simple tasks. _Your_ _immediate_ goal is to get over there." It stuck out a foreleg and pointed to a small pathway that seemed to lead down the edge of the cliff face. "Then, you'll walk down the path an-."

This time, it was Kein's turn to interrupt. "Okay! I fucking get it!" Not even bothering for a response, he began to walk towards the path. "Ye bitchy dragon!" Upon reaching the small trail, he turned. "Why do you have to be such a fuckwit about everything?" And walked down.

Reaching the bottom ten or so minutes later, Kein found himself walking the light of the faded sun. Mere seconds after his feet touched the grass did he heard the beat of wings behind him.

"Ancestors, you're slow." The creature said, sauntering up to him.

Kein sighed. "Yeah, very." He looked out at the golden coated valley. "Now where?"

"Now where what?"

Kein grit his teeth. "We're at the bottom of the plateau, now which direction do we go to get to the place you deemed worthing of camping at?"

The creature flared its wings back. "Oh, yeah." It groaned and slide down onto its stomach. "It's right here."

Kein's eye twitched. Cupping his hand over his mouth, he too slid down into a sitting position. Was this really worth it? Was being lead around by something from mythology _really_ worth it? It had been less than thirty minutes since he discovered the creature's ability to speak, but thirty minutes was far more than it took for his opinion to shift from instinctual distrust to complete annoyance.

How did he know he could even trust this thing to actually help him? So far, the only things it's done- that he could safely confirm- was stalk him for an hour, use his paper, and throw him up a cliff! On top of that, how did the leadership roles change so quickly to begin with? Was he really that lost? That any form of direction, no matter who was giving it, was enough to make him give up authority and follow blindly?

"Could you stop staring at me? It makes you look disabled."

Kein's train of thought was derailed by a nuclear bomb. Blinking his surprise away, he looked ahead of him at the dragon. He had done the one thing that made _everyone_ feel internally uncomfortable: Staring at someone's face, while also staring into space. Though its reaction was _definitely_ not discomfort.

In an attempt to salvage what little remained of the 'conversation' Kein asked a very important question. "What's your name, anyways?"

The creature turned its body to face him. "And why would that matter to you?"

"Well, you already know mine." Kein said. "I think it would only be polite if I knew yours." The word 'polite' came out a bit more bitterly than he had hoped.

A mellow 'hmmh' came from its mouth as it seemed to weighed whatever options it apparently had. Finally, with a small shrugged, it spoke. "Ellix."

Kein himself 'hmm'ed' and began to nod. "Ellix." He repeated. "Well, ah. It's… _nice_ , to officially meet you."

The dragon skeptical eyes the held out hand. "You're really not from around here. Are you?"

"Nope."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**

 **Aetheo: Ok, seriously?**

 ** _COUGH! FUCK! FUCKIN…_ ITALICS!**

 **Aetheo: Figuring that out _now_ , are we? The fact that those aren't canceled by your will alone?**

 **IT'S LIKE A WHOLE NEW WORLD!**

 **Aetheo: It's two in the morning. You have stuff to say, if I remember correctly?**

 **Alright…. Lo _o_ k… FUCKING ITALICS! God dammit! Okay! I'm not going to attempt to sugarcoat this, or come up with any kind of bullshit response that takes the blame off me.**

 **I _know_ I fucked up, Italics intended.**

 **Aetheo: Like pun intended. But worse.**

 **...And there's nothing I can do to take it back. I'm also not going to fill up like… the next one hundred pages describing what the hell happened. But just to give everyone, everyone who cares at least, the short version…**

 **I got into some funk. Some severe funk. And it seriously ruined my… _life_.**

 **Everything I had previously loved doing was just so… uneventful and lackluster. Nothing was really worth it.**

 **But hey! At least, after almost a full year, I'm FINALLY FIGURING MY SHIT OUT!**

 **Aetheo: Thanks. I think it was a matter of like 6 months, though.**

 **It started like… last December, I just really tried to hide it.**

 **Aetheo: It happens to lots of people, but some get hit harder than others. I think we can all agree that as long as you come back, it's fine.**

 **Regardless, thanks for waiting, friends. If anyone truly wants full details… to an extent, don't be afraid to ask… via message.**

 **Also! As a new trend! Starting now…**

 **AUTHOR FODDER!**

 **Aetheo: Most of this is my adding to it though. Actually, pretty sure it was all of it this time.**

 **It was all of it.**

 **"Casual Genocide: Fun for the whole family"**

 **"His soul was fucked by a demon from the lower planes which could apparently have sexual intercourse with souls"**

 **"his train of thought before it could be completely lost to the darkness of the abyss of doom"**

 **"A hammer so big that it probably would, in the course of it's swing, increase the perceived power by pulling you towards it gravitationally…"**

 **"Lost a little bit of it's edge. Which wasn't any at all, really- perhaps the fifth or sixth dimensional edge had been lost, but nothing within the three of standard human experience"**

 **"It's sniffing me. It has a nose. I suppose that makes a measure of sense." Aetheo: Pun intended.**

 **When Ellix was looking through Kein's bag: "Actually, the creature hadn't even been doing anything other than looking at it, yet. Dying to prevent someone from looking at his things. This was a new level of recklessness, even for him."**

 **"He hadn't known it to be possible to take shits from other people, but he was now... reconsidering that opinion."**

 **"Kein's train of thought was derailed by a nuclear bomb of such virility that it managed to gouge out the sides of the abyss that the train found itself drifting into at 9.8 M/s2"**


	12. Sure?

**Aetheo: I HAVE RETURNED BEARING GIFTS OF WORDS FOR THE MASSES!**

 **I'm just gonna act like this is normal.**

 **Aetheo: Though, not really** _ **my**_ **words**

 **Eh, uh, okay. Here we are. WORDS formulated into a structured set of paragraphs. Otherwise known as a chapter.**

 **Aetheo: It's actually been so long that MSTK has apparently forgotten how these go. Bow in reverence to his dedication to you, dear readers**

 **Hey, look, man, I'm trying here! This is taking split focus from me! There's like a three hour TAS Winder Waker on one side of my monitor and this on the other and it's pretty much equal to rolling sim plus office work…**

 **Aetheo: I can tell, by how many typos I corrected as you typed that. Regardless, while we apologize for scheduling being particularly(JUST IGNORE THAT) useless, I think we can move on to disclaimers.**

 **See, I wanted to say I used my time… "valuably" and wrote a disclaimer song… but...**

 **No. SO, instead. Have this generic rendition of a disclaimer.**

 **This… \/. Down there. That's a Spyro fanfiction. Generally… Just generally, those are considered the intellectual property of a company.**

 **Aetheo: And, as this is a Dragon-we-do-not-own chapter, we own less than usual. However, any building materials are our own.**

 **Yeah… so like… don't go running around spouting nonsense… AND YOU WOULD KNOW THE NONSENSE! I don't even have to specify.**

 **So just… read the chapter…**

 **Just read it and don't think about anything else.**

 **Like the fact that the last one was in November.**

 **Don't think about that.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Sure?**

Spyro couldn't really be upset. He knew he wasn't going to win. He knew that once he had shot off, once he had shown a willingness to succeed, he was destined to fail. _That_ fact he could accept. But what was _beyond_ him was why Cynder had even bothered to produce supersonic levels of speed for no purpose other than to beat him for the nineteenth time.

Unfortunately, that was _not_ the overkill of the situation.

As the two stood on a small jut of rock, overlooking the fields before Warfang, the _true_ "overkill" presented itself. The once-lush farmland had turned sour with scraggles of burned grass, heaps of dark crystal and carcasses. Once-bustling settlements now ghost towns intermingled amongst Malefor's mangled war machines. Crops, bent and trodden on by the feet of tens of thousands of clay soldiers, lay dead upon the packed earth. Arrows, ballista bolts, cannon balls, and hand-held weapons of abstract design littered the ground; painting a grisly picture of where squadrons of moles had engaged the enemy.

It was obvious to him that the battle was much more extensive than simply clearing the ramparts; he wondered how the field would look if he and Cynder had been there to help. But, seeing the aftermath, Spyro wasn't exactly sure he wanted to.

Then, there was Warfang. Even from this distance, he could still clearly see the gaping hole wherein the northern gate and artillery emplacement had stood; the golden sheen of the cannon glinted underneath tons of rubble, too covered to more than hint at its former luster. The extensive trail of destruction left by the ravaging golem continued to the city's heart, outlined by wafts of smoke. Any tower lucky enough to have been clear of the mayhem was little more than standing swiss cheese, a ripe target for the bowling ball of nature's wind. But, despite all of this, the city was still _relatively_ intact.

"I kind of regret starting that race," Spyro said. "See as the prize for winning was, well… this."

"It could have worse." Spyro turned with surprise. "There could have been _another_ one of those massive golems while we were on the mountain. At that point, I don't think there would have been anything left," Cynder quipped.

"I guess," Spyro replied, imagining the field before them that much more empty.

Cynder sighed and sat down on her left flank, Spyro following in kind. In the light of the late-afternoon sun, the two simply stared at the wreckage of civilization before them. Several minutes later, Cynder took a deep breath and stood up.

"Well, it's no use just sitting here and thinking." She turned to Spyro. "I vote we move on."

"I'll vote for that, too," he said.

"The parliament has spoken!" Cynder exclaimed. "They have agreed, the heroes will fly!" And with that, she took off.

Spyro chuckled to himself, taking a moment to enjoy her antics before flaring his wings and flying up to where she was waiting. With a simplistic, wordless exchange the two shot off towards the city.

Their path followed the field's main road: a large, four-lane cobblestone street that curved and stretched around the small divots and hills that dotted the farmland. It was the main hub of travel into and out of the Warfang. Unfortunately, it was also the same path the golem had taken while tunneling its way into the city.

"I can't imagine that thing is fun to live with," Cynder said, "or control."

Spyro turned to her. "What thing."

She pointed down at the split road. " _That_ thing." Spyro remained silent. "Look, I don't know what it's called! Just, whatever made _that_!"

"Oh, no, sorry!" Spyro exclaimed. "I knew what you were talking about. I was just waiting for you to continue."

"Ah, well. I mean, I can't imagine having to live with, or control that beasts" she said, lowering her altitude to get a better look at the crevasse the golem left behind. "Look that this! Every time you told it to go somewhere you'd have to repair the floor!"

Spyro laughed as he envisioned a group of moles carrying various sizes of tile, chasing around the monstrosity and relaying the floor as they went. "Yeah," he said, "I suppose that would be a pain."

"And what would you even feed it?" Cynder asked, flying but up to him.

Spyro gave her a confused look. "Do grublins even eat?"

"Um." This time, Cynder was the one confused. "I... don't actually know. Do they? Is it even a grublin?"

"Of course it's a grublin," Spyro said as they swerved to avoid a burnt windmill. "It has the dark crystal in its head."

"Maybe that's how."

"How's what?"

"Maybe that's how they sustain themselves," Cynder said. "They replace the crystal in their head."

Spyro thought on this for a moment. "Do dark crystals run out of power?"

"Well, yeah. It just takes a long time." She said. "Dark crystals are just corrupted energy crystals, so they share similar properties."

"How do you even know that?"

Cynder sighed. "Spyro, I commanded legions of dark crystal controlled apes." She turned her head to the ground. "And while Malefor refused to tell me anything about the crystals, it was easy enough to figure them out."

"Oh... then I'll trust your word on it," Spyro said, choosing his words carefully.

Cynder cracked a wry smile. "Thanks."

There was another wave of silence as the winds shifted direction, forcing the two to increase their efforts.

"You know," Cynder started, "I'm glad we raced."

"Really?" Spyro asked, surprised.

"Yeah, we got here with much more daylight left than we would have had, had we not."

"I suppose you're right," he said, noting that they were about halfway to Warfang's main entrance.

There was a small pause in the conversation.

"Do you want to hear the rest of Hunter's stories?" Cynder asked.

"Yes." This time, he'd actually pay attention.

And so, Cynder retold one of Hunter's many stories. During this time, the city drew closer, and as proximity often facilitates, the details began to coalesce. Patches of elemental effects could be seen along the ground and wall, the collateral damage more prevalent in the forms of ice and earth. Any other damages were already noted and grew in hideous malformity with immediacy. Luckily, the brown of wooden scaffolding was also becoming increasingly apparent, a sure-fire sign that repairs had already begun

"Moles are certainly quick workers."

"How did they manage to set up platforms so fast?" Spyro asked in reply to Cynder's comment. "It's only been a few weeks."

Cynder flew over him and tapped his head with a wingtip. "I don't know about you, but if my home was damaged that badly, I'd rush to repair it."

"I would, too! But Warfang's so big!"

"It's not _that_ big, Spyro," Cynder said. "Well, at least not the front the city was attacked from. The residential and mercantile zones contain a larger proportion of the cities' buildings. Those are on the ocean, away from the battle."

"And protected by the inner wall," Spyro said, recalling a map of Warfang Terrador had shown them.

"Don't get me wrong," Cynder said, regaining his attention. "The afflicted areas are still extensive. It's just not as bad as it _could_ have been."

"I guess you're right," Spyro replied. "At least the temple is still intact. There's only one hole in it."

Cynder blinked in surprise. "How do you know that?"

"I can see it. There's a hole in the dome, right in the center."

"You can see that?"

"Yeah... you can't?" Spyro asked.

"Are you kidding? It's still blurry for me! I mean, I can see all the main things, but not something like _that_!" Cynder shouted.

"Oh," he said, "really?"

"Yes!" There was a pause in her sentence. "Jeez, your eyes are all kinds of weird."

"Yeah," Spyro mumbled. "Very weird." With that, he went quiet.

The sudden and unusual silence from her companion prompted Cynder to look his direction. Unfortunately, she was quick to learn why he had ended the conversation so abruptly and, if questioned, would undoubtedly agree that the free rolling of eyes was still disgustingly unnatural.

"Ew!" She shouted, pushing his muzzle away from her. "Ew, ew, ew!" The train of 'ew's' continued far up into the clouds, but by that point, Spyro could no longer hear her disgust.

Cynder didn't come down until the last mile of their journey, only to be met with Spyro's reinstated laughter. Something that ended rather quickly after she slapped him over the head.

The last leg of their trip was spent in silence. Neither fully knowing what to expect once they crossed over the wall. Unfortunately, they were given no time to speculate. With a sudden whoosh of wind and blur of stone, the two sailed over the ramparts.

Within an instant, they were bombarded by the visual chaos of construction. Warfang's streets had been turned into a schizophrenic madman's flying circus for midget performers. Makeshift cranes, seemingly held together by bubblegum and tape, played puppeteer for the differently-abled objects below it. The puppets themselves, pallets holding blocks of stone, swung wildly through the air, dodging the hundreds of other strings like professional trapeze artists.

Farther below, the clowns worked. Chipping and shaping the delivered stone with non-normative precision as they balanced like plates on the sticks of scaffolding. The 'ooh's' and 'aah's' of the crowd only served to encourage the ringmasters, the amaranthine noise of their shouts and commands perpetuating into the furthest recesses of the city and cycling the already grand show into the even _more_ grand vision. Altogether, the constitution was like an interpretive dance, a dance so impressive it was hard to believe it wasn't practiced.

"Ancestors…" Cynder mumbled. "This is… impressive."

Spyro turned to her. "Just impressive? This is incredible!"

"Well, I'm sorry for sounding lax. I was _expecting_ constructions" she said. "Just... not at this level."

"You can say that again."

Even as they traveled inward, the efforts made by the moles to repair the city only complexified. Since the building there were more stable, rope bridges began to appear, along with an increased amount of scaffolding. It was actually starting to get claustrophobic, as the number of things they needed to avoid nearly doubled.

"This is so… chaotic," Spyro said. "How does anyone know what to do?"

"It's a _controlled_ chaos," Cynder said.

Spyro turned to her. "You think we should find one of the Guardians? We're not doing any good up here."

Cynder surveyed the city. "Yeah." She began to nod. "Yeah, we can help."

Following that exchange, the two gained altitude. From higher up, the full extent of the construction could be seen. _Everything_ was scaffolded. The sides of buildings were scaffolded; roofs were covered in scaffolding: there were entire towers made of scaffold! The only thing that wasn't scaffold were the streets, but even then, the wood for scaffolding was littered everywhere. It was as if the city was wide game board and the goal was total domination of a color, brown or beige.

"They really aren't sparing any expense, are they?" Cynder said.

The productivity had already entranced Spyro, so he didn't answer. It wasn't until he noticed an area to the left of where they were flying that he spoke. "Hey, look over there."

It was one of Warfang's three main squares. These squares acted as the gates between the inner and outer parts of the city as well as being centralized social areas. They were about two hundred feet in diameter and were octagonal in shape. The inner wall arched over the square itself and provided cover from nature's elements. In the middle, a single, ornate fountain- depicting statues of both moles and dragons- could be found in all three squares. The water itself flooded into grates in the floor, which then transported the water around the square, feeding plants in the middle and edges of the area.

Usually, the square was a bright place. The fountain would be spewing water. Plants of all types would be soaking up the glorious sun. The carts of traveling merchants would be offering the most exotic goods from hard to reach places. And the clamor of common folk would have been heard everywhere in the city. Instead, it was no more than a dusty construction zone.

As the Spyro and Cynder grew closer, they found the fountain destroyed and archway partially collapsed, and there was no doubt that any prior fauna was long dead. Rather, the square was now home to pyramids of stone blocks, whoever was in charge deciding that the square was the perfect storage area for raw materials.

"Look!" Cynder said. "There's Terrador!"

As Spyro turned, he too saw the Earth Guardian. His stance and shut eyes portrayed intense concentration, and as Spyro looked closer, he could see the stone around him shift.

"Come on! Let's go!" Cynder continued.

Immediately, she dropped into a dive with Spyro following closely behind. Within a few seconds, the two were on the ground, walking within the inner walls of Warfang for the first time in their lives.

"Terrador!" Cynder yelled in the Guardian's direction. When a response wasn't forthcoming, they began to move toward the elderly dragon.

As they grew closer, the reason for Terrador's concentration became clear. The Guardian was pumping massive amounts of earthen energy into the ground, evident by the occasional 'mole hole' that would travel from him to the nearest wall. These new trails and already existing ones would pulse like veins and with each pulse, the stone that comprised the surrounding structures bulged.

Around the time that Spyro noticed this, Cynder commented on the complete lack of scaffold or supports in the area. Almost instantly, it became apparent to him that Terrador was single-handedly holding the entire area around them, tons upon tons of stone, together, with nothing but his raw power alone.

Despite this, Cynder called out to him. "Terrador! It's us!"

"Cynder, I don't think we should be bothering him right now," Spyro whispered.

"What? Why?" She asked. "Why are you whispering?"

"Because! He's-" A bass grumble cut him off.

"Hm, what is it, Mason?" The Guardian asked. "I thought you were inspecting the building integrity." Just from the tone of his voice, it was clear to them that he was strained.

Cynder smiled. "No, Terrador. It's us! Spyro and Cynder!"

Upon those words being spoken, Terrador opened his eyes. A look of shock crossed his face before he turned down to look at them. However, that was as far as he got before the ground began to shake.

"Terrador!" The shout from about prompted all three to look up. It was Mason, the master engineer, standing at the top of a building that was pressed against the inner wall. "Terrador! Get ahold of yourself or this place is gonna come down!" However, none of them were able to comprehend what he said before a thunderous crack echoed overhead.

Without supports or Terrardor's power, a section of the inner wall had begun to break loose and was now teetering dangerously on the edge of falling. Terrador, realizing this, immediately refocused his energy, and sent out a pulse of pure elemental power so intense that, had he been in less control, would have felt painful for its experiencers.

"Everyone out! Master Terrador can't hold this place much longer!" Further above, Mason had begun evacuating his team. Mole after mole popped their head out from who-knows-where, all turning to Mason, Terrador, and finally the falling wall before squirming out. The never-ending stream of inconveniences forced Mason to stay in the danger zone longer, but the boulder was not as patient as he.

"Mason! Get out of there!" Spyro yelled. Mason caught his message just as the last of his team exited the grounds. However, right as these words reached the ears of the Master of Engineering, the stone gave way. A small pebble plinking off his head was the only warning the mole got before a virtual mountain of rubble began cascading toward him.

"Mason!" Spyro yelled again and unfurled his wings, but just as he was about to take off, a burst of wind from his side forced him to remain grounded.

Cynder had wasted no time in launching herself upward, shooting off toward the fear-stricken mole. With little more than a second remaining, she reached the top of the building. Grabbing the artisan by his shoulders, Cynder spun around and threw him off the crumbling tower. The massive chunk of stone ripped through the structure like water, sending out ripples of rock that slammed into adjacent buildings, adding to the dangerous domino-esque destruction of the day.

Spyro barely managed to catch Mason and shield himself before an avalanche of refined limestone came crashing over them. After the cacophonous churning of stone had stopped, he lifted the barrier. Terrador was above them, his head and shoulder firmly planted against a wall of erected rock, obviously protecting them from the earthen flood behind it. Realizing they were safe, Spyro stood up and looked down to Mason.

"Are you okay?" As the mole sat forward, he backed up.

"Yes, Spyro. Thank you," he said, holding his heart. "I'm just not used being thrown off things."

Their conversation was cut off when a misty explosion erupted from the rubble. The two turned to see Cynder jumping out of a pool of shadow, the dark gas of her element running off her body as she sprinted towards them.

"Mason!" she said. "Mason, I'm sorry!"

"It's quite alright, Cynder," he said as she neared them.

The mole's immediate acceptance of her apology caught Cynder off-guard. "But, but! The building and, and the boulder!" She turned to the elderly dragon. "Terrador! I didn't know! I thought…"

"It's fine, Cynder." Once he had spoken, Terrador groaned and dissolved the barrier. The rock rubble wasted no time in rolling forth. However, Terrador didn't seem to mind, he simply let the stone crash against him as he walked toward them, like it was nothing more than waves on the shores of and ocean, lapping pathetically around his ankles.

"Yes, we all make mistakes," Mason said. "This one just happened to be more… destructive."

Terrador hummed in agreement and turned down to the mole. "Indeed. Mason? Are you alright?"

"Yes, Terrador. I'm quite fine. Thanks to Cynder," he said.

The earth dragon turned. "Cynder? Are you injured?"

"Not really. I just scratched myself." Upon saying this, she turned her left forearm to reveal a three, large, claw-like gashes just below her armpit. "I guess I'm out of practice…"

Terrador grumbled again. "Those are more than simple scratches, young dragon. If you neglect your body, your body will neglect you."

Cynder sighed. "Yes, Master Terrador..."

The Earth Guardian nodded and turned to Mason. "Did you get all of your men out?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm... not sure. I got everyone out of the building, but as for them getting to safety? I don't know," the mole said.

As if on cue, the rest of Mason's party slowly walked from around the rubble pile. Most of them looked okay, if bruised or scratched up. The only person that looked seriously injured had a rather hulking figure and a stone cold face.

"Mason!" The mole leading the group exclaimed.

"Theodore!" Mason said, standing up. "It's good to see you alive and well." Once the two neared, they decreased the volume of their conversation. "Is everyone safe?"

"Yeah, we're all fine." The younger mole scratched the back of his head. "Well, except Brick. His leg's broken… but… well, you know."

Mason looked over Theodore's shoulder. The overly masculine mole in question was at the center of the group, supported by his friends. Only, it didn't really seem like they were supporting him: more visually, he was using them as crutches.

"The _BRICK_ doesn't _FEEL_ pain!"

"Yup, he's good," Mason said. "Good job, Theodore." Theodore smiled and nodded, walking back to the group to help with Brick. In the meantime, Mason turned back to Terrador.

"Alright, Terrador. Everyone's fine," he said.

The earth Guardian scanned the group. "Are you sure you'll be able to manage now that you no longer have Master Brick?"

"Yeah," Mason said. "He had already figured out the problem before the building collapsed."

"And what was that problem?" Terrador asked.

"Well, as it turns out, the supports weren't treated, so when the city got attacked and the aqueduct control in this area got hammered, the valve that controlled the flow of water got blown apart by the pressure." He turned and pointed to the rubble next to them were a set of very large broken pipes could be seen. "The water spewed from the pipe into the building where it rotted the wood. Then it just so happened to drain into the duct below it."

Terrador hmm'd. "That's why the North-Eastern part of the city was receiving so much water."

"Yeah. Unfortunately, the damage was pretty extensive. Most of the mechanisms were either already rusted or broken, and in all honestly, I'm surprised the structure was still standing before we got here."

"So it needed to come down anyway?"

"Yup!" Mason said. "You hear that, Cynder? You saved us a right good amount of time, you did!"

Cynder, at the time, wasn't paying their conversation any attention. Rather, she was holding her cut forearm up so Spyro was able to bandage it with ice. When her name was said, she turned back to them. "Sorry, Mason. Could you say that again?"

Mason took a breath to speak, but Terrador beat him to the point. "It would seem that the little accident from before helped us more than it hindered."

"Yes," Mason said. "I hope it reassures you to know that that building and the surrounding ones did need to come down. And that section of the wall certainly wasn't going to stay there either."

"But, did anyone get hurt?" she asked.

"The only person that got hurt is quite alright with it," Mason said, looking back to his party.

"Oh, _YEAH_! The _BRICK_ is _LOVIN'_ this!" Brick spoke, waving one of his makeshift crutches.

Mason paused. "If anything, you helped him with his masochistic tendencies."

"I'm… I'm not sure how I feel about that," Cynder said, thinking about the implications of helping a masochist.

Terrador stepped forward again. "Regardless, Cynder. You are not the only one at fault here. I, myself, should have been more aware of my surroundings."

"Yeah, Terrador. What was up with that?" Mason said, elbowing the Guardian. "Usually you're on top of things like that." When he looked to up see Terrador's disapproving expression, Mason corrected himself. "I-I mean, that's fine! We all do things wrong… I, probably, shouldn't have been up there for so long, you know, knowing that it wasn't the _safest_ place to be…"

"Indeed." The Guardian said. Terrador glanced back to his two students, noting the ice around Cynder's forearm. "That's a creative solution, young dragon. But it is only a temporary one. Mason?"

"Yes, Master Terrador?" The Mason asked.

"Are we finished here?"

The mole gained a blank expression for a moment before beginning to rapidly pat down his belt pouches. "Ah, um. I seemed to have lost my favorite wrench."

Terrador's expression remained unchanged. "So that's a yes."

Mason sighed. "I suppose…"

"Good. Go gather your crew. Spyro? Cynder?"

"Yes, Terrador?" Cynder said.

The Guardian leaned in towards them. "I apologize for the lack of excitement upon your arrival, young dragons."

"It's fine, Master Terrador," Spyro said.

"Thank you, Spyro. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased by your safe return, but I hope you understand, you may receive similar reactions from the other Guardians." Terrador let his shoulders sag slightly. "The stress that we've been under the past few weeks is making things… difficult, especially for Cyril."

Cynder nodded. "Of course, Terrador. We understand."

"Thank you, Cynder. It brings great joy to my heart to see you both safe."

"We're glad to see you as well, Master Terrador," Spyro said.

The Guardian nodded and leaned back, turning to see Mason's progress. When he saw the group walking towards them, he looked back to Spyro and Cynder.

"Young dragons. I hate to ask this of you so soon, but a member of Mason's party could use your help," Terrador said, motioning to _The Brick_. "I'm sure he would appreciate it if you could take him to the infirmary, despite what he says."

" _The BRICK_ is a _BRI-_ "

"Sure we will, Master Terrador. You don't even have to ask," Spyro said.

"Excellent. I'll give you a moment to get settle once you receive him," Terrador said. "Master Mason, can you please bring Master Brick here."

"Certainly," Mason said. "Theodore! Wrine! Would you come here please." The two living crutches looked to their leader and began shuffling forward. "Thank you, gentlemen. Please deliver Brick here to my acquaintances so that we can get back to work." After saying this, Mason stepped aside to reveal the waiting dragons.

Upon seeing Spyro and Cynder, Theodore stopped mid-stride. "Bu… That's-"

"Yeah, I know," Mason said, crossing his arms. "Come on, go! You're making yourselves look stupid."

Regardless of Mason's encouragements, the two remained still, not knowing whether or not the master engineer was screwing with them or if he actually wanted them to pass off their injured member to the living legends.

"You should be glad Spyro and Cynder here are patient," Mason chimed. "I don't think I could handle people gawking at me."

Blushing with embarrassment, the two slid forward. "T-thank you," Theodore said, quickly removing The Brick from his shoulder; not even bothering to stand up straight once the tradeoff was made.

"Happy to help," Spyro said, grunting as the massive bulk of The Brick was laid upon him. With that, Theodore repeated his grace and scurried away while Wrine hung around just long enough to push up his spectacles before following with a silent, creepy smile.

"Here, let me help," Cynder said, walking up to The Brick's open side.

"No, it's okay," Spyro said quickly, shifting his weight. "I got it."

"Really?" she asked, skeptical. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah! I mean…" He paused mid-sentence when The Brick became active again. "Your arm is cut and, you know!"

"My… arm?"

"Yeah! We- eh, you heard Master- ow, Terrador. Hey! Be careful, please! You don't want to make it worse… ow."

Cynder, being able to witness the spectacle that was the last few seconds could only hum. The Brick was now seated atop Spyro's back, straddling him as if he were wearing a saddle. In the silence that ensued, he placed his hands on Spyro's lowered horns and tilted his head to the sky, instilling his triumphant vision upon an unwilling reality.

" _The Brick_ is _ready_."

Cynder coughed loudly, attempting to hide a grin. "Still 'got it?'"

Spyro sighed and began to, with great effort, straighten himself. It wasn't until several seconds later that he was able to test the waters and shuffle forward. Walking up to Cynder's side, he refolded his wings.

"Yeah, I think I got it," he said.

"Good," she said, nodding. "Because you're too deep for me to help you now."

"Wait, too deep? But…"

"Nope! Terrador! We're ready to leave."

There were two mighty thumps as the Guardian turned from his previous conversation.

"Good," he said. "You should hav- well, I suppose that _would_ be faster, if you can manage it, Spyro."

"I'm alright," Spyro said, shaking his stiff legs awake. "He's not as heavy as I thought."

Terrador nodded in agreement. "Then I shan't delay you and further." He turned and pointed toward the back end of the plaza where it opened into a wide road. "That street is the fastest way to the infirmary, as long as you bank right on all the intersections until you reach the main highway."

"Thank you, Terrador. We'll go there immediately," Cynder said. With that, the two took to their subpar venture.

"Oh! One last thing, young dragons," Terrador called. Once he was ensured their attention, he brought his head down low. "A word of advice, try not to get caught up in Cyril's activities."

"Why? Is Cyril at the infirmary?" Spyro asked.

"No doubt," Terrador huffed. "He hasn't moved from his 'Hermetic Chamber' in weeks."

"Hermetic Chamber?"

"You need not concern yourself with that right now, Spyro," Terrador said. "Just please know, I ask you to distance yourselves from Cyril as much as possible, at least for now."

Cynder smiled. "Of course, Terrador. We'll do what we can."

"Thank you, Cynder," he said and looked to Spyro, who was currently being kicked by The Brick as if he were wearing spurs. "And good luck to you, my friend." Turning with a slight grin, Terrador walked back to Mason's group.

Taking a moment to watch him leave, Cynder chuckled. "You ready?"

Spyro, being continuously kicked, could take no time for pleasantries and simply said "Yes," followed by a string of "ow"s.

"Great," Cynder said. "Let's go."

"Yes!" The Brick suddenly began to bounce excitedly on Spyro's back. "The Brick. Is. Ready!"

Within a moment, Spyro sucked in a violent breath and his face dropped. "Spine! That was a spine…"

Cynder, who had immediately stood when she saw his pained expression, came to a slow stop next to him. "Really? A spine?" When Spyro flicked a tear from his eye she scoffed and began to walk. "Come on, you big baby."

"What!? They're sensitive!" he said, hobbling forward.

"How sensitive?" Cynder asked.

To this, Spyro was at a loss. "Um, Sparx used to tickle me there?"

"Okay, sure. I'll have to remember that one," Cynder chuckled. "Though, if it is that bad. I'd think you'd be in more of a rush." She looked to Spyro questioningly. "No?"

Spyro sighed and picked up his pace, pulling it into a lazy trot. "Like this?" he asked.

" 's better." She said. "Plus, think of poor Brick back there. Imagine the agony he must be in." Her statement was thoroughly back up by The Bricks excited hoots and hollering. "You wouldn't want to be slow, for his sake!"

"Of course," Spyro said in a droll tone. "For his sake."

"Good," Cynder chimed. "We're almost there anyways." It was true, Cynder's impromptu pep-talk had wasted enough time that they were mere seconds away from the gap between the stone buildings that could otherwise be identified as a street.

As they walked between the two stone pillars that indicated the end of the plaza, the floor changed from ornately placed bricks to mere cobblestone. Further down this new cobblestone path came the first of _many_ intersections. Luckily, the two, having reliable short-term memories, hung right and continued. They continued until they had questioned how many times they were going to have to continue. Which came around about the sixth or seventh intersection. Of course, the most fun instances of "hanging right" was when there was _no_ intersection, rather a small alleyway or garden that just so happened to connect up to another street, or in the yet further confusing cases, another small alleyway or garden.

About a mile into their streetwise adventure, the road began to angle upward, and as they traveled further, the degree of the angle steadily increased. Despite being so adamant about it before, Cynder couldn't, in good conscience, asked Spyro to move faster, or in this case, regain his trot. Even The Brick had lost his childlike glee and instead diverted his voice to shouting manly words of encouragement. Which, unsurprisingly, sounded like they were torn straight from _The_ _Buff Guy's Buff Book of Buff Brusqueness_. Though it came much the amusement of Cynder, it also came to the annoyance of Spyro, and the curiosity of those they passed. Which was a curious thing in of itself, considering that not one person stopped them for so much as a hello. A true mystery as to why that was.

Their last struggle came in the form of a large flight of stairs. A highly decorated, flora covered, water lined, carved, set of stairs. Luckily, at the top of those stairs was the central square of Warfang and, more importantly, the location in which the makeshift infirmary stood.

With her first foot through the door, Cynder could tell that this was not a pleasant place. It was to be expected, but that didn't stop a shiver from coursing through her.

"Well, we're here. Where to do you think…" She began, turning to her accomplice, who was, in fact, not there. "Eh, Spyro?"

With her gaze focused on the past stairway, she fully expected to see Spyro stumbling up after her. Instead, the first indication that he was even there came in the form of the word "five" echoing throughout the plaza. The rest of the countdown came shortly after as The Brick's body began to rock into view followed by Spyro, who was dragging his feet across the ground by that point.

"One!" The Brick screamed as Spyro collapsed beneath him, causing the muscular mole to slip off one side and fall flat onto the ground. " _YEAH!_ "

"See, I would feel bad," Cynder said, helping The Fallen Brick onto his foot. "But you did kind of spend a whole week doing nothing but sleeping and eating fruit."

Spyro, with his face firmly planted into the ground, mumbled. "Please, not with the fruit again."

"Alright," She said. "Just saying, fruit and all."

With a forced grunt, Spyro stood. "Here, I can take him back…"

"No, it's good," Cynder said, but when she was given the "just… please" look she continued. "I have to do something. It makes me look bad if I don't!"

Spyro was about to interject, but The Brick beat him to it. "Chivalry! The Brick likes this man!" he said, pulling Spyro in by reaching one of his bulky arms around the drake's neck. "But! The Brick can also respect your desire for equal fame!" He continued, this time speaking to Cynder. "So, to solve this problem, The Brick has decided that you will _both_ carry him!" With that, and with little consent from either party, The Brick removed his foot from the ground, resting the entirety of his weight on Spyro and Cynder's backs.

"Okay!" Cynder yelled, the unexpected weight threatening to throw her over, though she was quick to recover. "I suppose you're right. He's not… _that_ heavy."

Spyro merely hmm'd and began to walk down the nearest row. As they went, Cynder began to take note of the area. The entire plaza, which had to be twice, if not three times the size of the previous, seemed to be filled to the last square inch with makeshift medical tents. Tents that were, in some cases, no more than a lean-to made of tattered fabric and splintered wood. Even with such simplistic and abundant accommodations, it was easy to see that housing was still an issue, evident by the injured found leaning against the occasional plant beds.

On top of the staff being clearly overworked and underpaid, Cynder found that, as she peered into one of the more official tents, the "infirmary" was out of even the most basic of supplies- most of the citizens being treated were being bandaged by ripping pieces of clothing.

Abruptly, Cynder was knocked from her guilty stupor as a group of nurses barreled past them, pushing a cloth covered cart.

"The whole arm's infected. If we don't get him to Lilith, he _will_ die!"

Cynder was barely able to catch the beginning of the second nurse's sentence before the cart suddenly jumped as one of its wheels shattered a small pile of bottles. Curses and glares were exchanged but other than that, little attention was paid. As the scent of alcohol filled the air, Cynder's uneasiness doubled and she became even more aware of the moans and screams that surrounded her.

"Spyro, can we please move faster," she said quietly, quickening her pace as she passed a mole casually picking the broken glass from his skin. "I don't like it here..."

"Yeah." Spyro's tone was dull and when Cynder looked to him, he was looking at the ground with a tired expression. She didn't really want to think about what he had seen on his side.

However, before they had the opportunity, they were hurriedly approached by one of the few nurses. If there was any instance in which the phase "given everything" could apply in the physical sense, this mole was that sense.

"Oh, for the love of-" she said and pushed Spyro aside. She then began to rapidly search The Brick for injuries, only stopping to pull up the thin piece of cloth that had served as a makeshift bra. "Just the leg?"

"Yes, ma'am," Spyro said.

"How recent?" she demanded, stepping away so Spyro could retake his position.

"About a hours" Cynder replied.

"Lucky," the nurse mumbled, tapping her head. "Okay." She abruptly pointed over the tents to a large pillared building at the back of the plaza. "Take him straight to that building. Once inside, find the nearest set of double doors on the _left_ and go in."

"Alright," Cynder said, Spyro responding similarly, but as they turned back, the mole was already gone from the spot, dealing with a new entrant to the plaza.

After an exchange of shrugs, the two continued. About five minutes after their encounter, Spyro and Cynder had dodged through enough of the infirmary to reach the central structure.

Wasting little time admiring the craftsmen of the building's entrance, they ran up one of the multiple flights of stairs and stepping through the open doors. It wasn't until their eyes had adjusted to the light of the hall that they were able to appreciate the building's design.

Arched ceilings; armor and weapon stands; a practical rainbow of banners; paintings; lanced rugs; statues; crystalline torches; incense bowls; golden talismans; _cheese wheels that were presented at monuments of the ancestors_! All of which was bathed in the twilight glow of sunset and lamplight. This was the Palace of Versailles condensed into one hallway.

As the two stood, frozen by the grandeur of the interior design, Cynder spoke. "It may or may not have just occurred to me that we're in Warfang's Guardian Temple."

Spyro thought for a moment. "It's certainly… large enough," he said.

"That is not at all the response I was expecting," Cynder said dryly.

Spyro snapped his head to her once they started moving. "Wha-... what _should_ I have said, then?"

Cynder sighed. "Nevermind. Let's just get _The Brick_ here to… whatever this other place is."

Spyro merely released the exasperated breath he held and continued on. It was pretty easy to discern which door was their destination. Other than the fact that "left" and "right" sides were overwhelmingly simple concepts, the amount of people pouring out of the doorway in question, injured or otherwise, was staggering. Though, it seemed that anyone coming out was doing so on their own two feet.

"Come on," Cynder said. "Once we get him here, we'll go find Terrador aga-"

Before she could finish, a nearby door hurtled open, slamming against the wall and causing the room's entire presence to jump in response. For a moment, the only thing that came from the door was thin wafts of smoke. But, after one, full, comical second, the crystal blue head belonging to the Guardian of Ice poked out.

Cyril looked _terrible_. Just from his face alone and the way his paw shook as he held the door, it was easy to see that he hadn't slept in days. But it certainly wasn't just sleeping patterns that made his manic-look horrid, it was also the multiple patches around his head that lacked scales and the groups of frills on the underside of his chin whose skin had been torn off that added to his… _crazy_ , visage.

Before anyone could even react to the Guardian's presence, Cyril whipped his head to the left. His bloodshot eyes locked directly onto Spyro and Cynder and within the next second, he was standing in front of them.

"Oh! Hah! Yes! Spyro! Cynder!" His speech was quick and his voice cracked frequently. "You are _exactly_ the pair I wanted to see!"

Despite the rush before, the entire room was silent. All of the moles shuffling in and out froze in either shock at Cyril's appearance or in fear for their own safety.

"Um, hel-" Spyro attempted.

"Yes, that's nice," the Ice Guardian interrupted. "So, how was your trip? I'm sure it was safe. Nice flight? Good weather? Oh! Did you perhaps see any Goldilum on your way here?" During his slur of words, Cyril had taken it upon himself to remove The Brick from Spyro and Cynder's shoulder's and was now rolling the mole around in his paws like a doll.

It was about this time that everyone else in the room began to slowly leave.

After an overly large amount of examination, Cyril pointed out: "Your leg is _broken_." And a second later, he said. "I can fix that!" However, before the crazed drake could drag the wide-eyed mole into the doorway on the right, the Guardian stopped.

" _Actually…_ Cynder!" Suddenly, Cyril thrust a paw out, a paw that, if he had been any closer, would have smacked Cynder across the room. "I need you!" And he paused.

Cynder, still reeling from her near slap, asked in a quiet voice. "To?"

Her question seemed to snap Cyril out of whatever mini-coma he had been in, and, in response, he quickly put The Brick back on Spyro's shoulder and reached into a saddle pouch around his barrel. "To tell me if this is poisonous!" Ripping his paw out of the bag, he held a vial to Cynder.

There was a _long_ pause. The kind of pause that, if it had been written by any sensible person with a schedule, they would have foregone trying to type it out and instead just used exponents to describe the amount of "o"'s in the word long.

"Cyril, this is empty."

Upon registering Cynder's sentence, Cyril's smile began to fade. Seconds later, any trace of his previous exuberance was gone and he was instead looking around the room, noting and unconsciously mimicking the concerned looks of those around him.

"I, uh, I apologize, Cynder… Spyro," he said, clearing his throat. "I'm not sure what came over me." Gently, he reached out for the vial. "Here, I'll… I'll take that back. Thank you." By this time, the audience had dispersed, leaving the group with the occasional passer-by.

"It's okay, Cyril," Cynder said. "I'm sure you have your reasons."

"Thank you, Cynder, for your forgiveness," he said. "And the same to you, Mr. Brick. My behavior was… uncouth. I can only hope for your pardon."

There was silence from the mole, at least until the mole's boisterous voice echoed throughout the room.

"The Brick now knows the true meaning of 'man-handled.'"

Cyril chuckled. "That's... good, I suppose. I'm just glad I didn't injure you further." His features hardened after saying this. "Speaking of which, how are you handling?"

"The Brick does not know what you're talking about."

"I see," Cyril said. Taking the same to remove his incredulous expression, he turned to Spyro. "My boy, you are nothing short of amazing," he quickly turned to Cynder. "The both of you are." With a newfound vigor, Cyril straightened his back, regaining his normal stance of confidence. "I bet you stuck it to that villain, Malefor! His awesome power nothing short of laughable in the face of your own!" Cyril lowered the paw he had used for emphasized. "And here I am, seeing first hand that you've returned safely. But surely you're not here for me." Cyril chuckled to himself again. "Oh, I apologize. I don't mean to spark any guilt."

"It's fine, Master Cyril," Spyro said. "We're here to see if we can hand off Master Brick to anyone."

"Oh, really?" Cyril said. "You were told to come here for that? Hm, it must be more serious than I previously thought." He put a paw up to his chin in thought, only to remove it quickly once he realized he was scratching himself. "Ah, well. Normally, I'd take care of it myself. But, uh, given the circumstance." He looked back to the room he had sprung forth from; smoke was still wafting from the doorway. "I don't feel very prepared."

"That's okay, Cyril," Cynder said. "Anyways, we were told to go into that room there." She pointed to the door to their left.

"Ah, yes. Lilith." His eyes tighten. "I will admit, she is a very good healer. But for whatever reason, she is opposed to alchemy, which is asinine if you ask me because alchemy is all natural and her element is nature based!"

"Nature based?" Spyro asked.

Cyril turned to him, confused, but only for a moment. "My bad, Spyro. I forgot your rather _isolated_ upbringing. I'm sure she would be happy to explain it to you if you asked. But, before you leave," he turned to Cynder. "I apologize for my assumption later, but, if you're still willing, do you have the ability to sense poisons?"

"I do," Cynder replied.

"Oh! That is most excellent!" Cyril said excitedly. "Would you be willing to help me identify the stability of the antitoxins I'm attempting to create?"

"Uh," Cynder hesitated. "...Spyro? I'm assuming you can handle the rest?"

Spyro could only grunt as The Brick climbed back into him. "Yeah…"

"Then, yeah," Cynder looked to Cyril. "I guess can help."

Cyril uncharacteristically bubbled back up again. "Excellent! Just this way, please!" he said, trotting to the open room. "Oh! And close the door as well. We don't want any excess fumes leaking into the hall!"

Cynder stopped mid stride and looked up at the door that was easily ten times her size. "Seriously?" Sighing, she moped forward and grabbed the massive door with her forefeet. After ten long seconds, the door closed with a _thunk_.

As the general buzz of feet once again filled the hall, Spyro found himself wondering one thing. "So, do I just… walk in, or?"

Fondly enough it was that simple; unfortunately, Spyro managed to realize this only after several minutes of dodging around those coming in and out of the doorway. However, once he managed to squeeze his way in, he found the flow of traffic to be much more organized.

This was mainly due to the fact that the nurse that had stopped them before was now standing in the middle of the room pushing people in respective directions like animals. So, having identified at least one semi-familiar face, Spyro moved to her.

"Ancestors! You took ages to get here!" she said when Spyro stepped up. "Just- never mind. You see that dragoness in the back?"

Spyro looked over the mole's shoulder to the only other dragon in the room. "Yes?"

"Take him to her… _Now_!"

Spyro wasted little time scurrying away. Upon raising his head, he finally got a good look at the patients resting in the beds that lined the walls. Every patient, save for the ones that had recently entered the room, seemed to be asleep. It didn't matter what kind of injury they had, it didn't matter how they were lying, it didn't matter if they were being removed and placed on stretchers, they were _all_ asleep.

Spyro was uncertain on whether to feel uneasy about the stillness or glad for the lack of horrific sounds of pain. Either way, his focus was drawn away when he reached the far wall.

Standing in a back corner, leaning over the bed of an awake individual was lime-colored earth dragoness. At the time, Spyro thought nothing of this, sure he was a bit nervous, but in the end, he thought of her as just a feminine Terrador, which wasn't all that scary to him. However, upon walking closer, he managed to spot the one thing that turned his mindset upside down.

She was _covered_ in grass. But not just grass! No, that would be too reasonable. Grass _and_ dirt!

Over the next second, Spyro slowed down and his expression morphed into incredulous. But this reaction did not stop the dragoness from noticing him.

"Hey." The word was drawn out longer than would have been socially acceptable. "I know you!"

Spyro tilted his head just enough to look into her face… there was grass on the bridge of her snout.

"You're that one purple guy! The hero one!" She brought one paw to her face, there was moss between her toes. "Sypro! I think."

"No, Spyro," he said, taking the time to make sure the name was fully and properly enunciated.

"That's nice," said the dragon Spyro now assumed to be Lilith. "And I see that you brought _The Brick_ back to me." His name was brought about with a mocking tilt of the head and "man-like" voice.

"Yes..." Spyro said.

"Wonderful, he loves it here." She turned to the mole atop Spyro's back. "Now what have you done to yourself, silly."

The Brick, rather uncharacteristically, spoke in the first person. "I broke myself again, Miss Lilith." He emphasized the point by lifting his limply hanging lower leg with one hand.

Lilith giggled. "It doesn't hurt now does it?"

Unsurprisingly, The Brick took and deep breath and yelled. " _THE BRICK FEELS NO PAIN!_ " Surprisingly, Lilith yelled it with him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

After they had stopped laughing at each other, Lilith spoke. "Well, I'm sure you know the procedure by this point."

The Brick smiled and straightened his posture on Spyro's back.

"Thank you!" Lilith said.

Now, up to this point, Spyro, or anyone for that matter, could have easily deducted that Lilith wasn't exactly a normal individual. Of course, that wasn't a bad thing, not at all! Even with the fact that she was covered in grass, that alone could just be thought of as a quirk!

But there comes a point in which it is no longer morally acceptable, _by anyone_ , to forgive a person's random behavior by saying that it's a quirk. And for Spyro, that point came in a way that he would have never possibly thought of under the given circumstances.

The instant after The Brick had adjusted himself, Lilith lifted her tail and beat him across the room with it.

Spyro could only watch, flabbergasted, as the mole flew through the air; slid to a stop just before the fall wall; sat up; pulled a needle-like blade of grass from his neck; and then promptly slouched forward, unconscious.

"Oops, forgot to remove the anesthetic."

Spyro didn't know what to say. He _couldn't_ have known what to say. It was just so… _why!?_ And not one person even bat an eye at it! This was apparently something that _just happened_!

"Now that that's taken care of!" Spyro looked back to Lilith with wide eyes. "Back to this!" She was back standing over the bed.

Spyro was about to question the big wide "what" of the situation, but Lilith continued speaking. "You seem patient enough. Would you mind helping with something?"

This was Spyro's opportunity, this was his opportunity to say no, leave this… _insane_ dragoness to whatever, go back to Cynder and _forget_.

"...Sure?"

"Oh, thank you! Come here, please." Lilith motioned with her paw to the other side of the cot. "As you can see, he isn't asleep."

As Spyro walked up to the bed he noted the mole lying down on it, and how he was quite literally rolling in place.

"Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, _BUT_!" Lilith pushed the mole to the center of the bed, the guy having almost fallen off. "He is clearly trying to kill himself.

Spyro blinked. "Kill himself?"

"Well, at least not purposely," she corrected. "As is stands, he's currently being eaten from the inside out by some kind of 'slow acting acidic disease,' if you would. And while I was able to inject him with an intensive amount of painkillers, this guy is an absolute _wimp_."

"Um…" Spyro wasn't sure how to take that.

"So right now he's experiencing something probably equivalent to a bad stomach ache and _this_ is his reaction."

Spyro didn't say anything.

"What I need you to do is keep him on the bed while I prepare an antitoxin." She pushed the mole to the center of the bed again. "And while I would normally let him fall off and _then_ prepare the antitoxin, I _think_ , that if he were to fall off, the trauma might kill him. So just… hold him in place or something." With that, Lilith turned her head.

"Okay…" Spyro said slowly. Putting his forefeet on the bed, he took a moment to observe the writhing of the mole. He wasn't exactly sure how to go about it, but in the end, Spyro simply leaned forward and suck his forefeet on the mole's chest.

Of course, the mole, having not a single clue as to what was going on, curled himself around Spyro's arms and continued to roll.

"Uh," the drake said as he was promptly shifted across the bed.

"Just kep 'im still." Lilith had her head between her wings and was speaking with a muffled tone. "I dn't care how yu du it."

"Uh…" While Lilith was speaking, the mole had taken it upon himself to remove Spyro's paws from his chest and roll atop them. Now pinned, Spyro could only watch as the mole continued to roll up his arms until it had lodged itself in the crook of his neck; arms flailing madly behind his head.

" _Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu_ ," the mole groaned.

Spyro inhaled violently and moved his head as far away from the spasming mole as possible. "This feels weird!" he shouted.

"That's because it is! Weird, I mean." Lilith replied nonchalantly. Luckily, after she had spoken, Lilith turned her head back. Her cheeks were stuffed and she was chewing on whatever they were stuffed with. "Okay, put him back."

Doing as he was told, Spyro tilted his forearms upward, allowing the mole to roll down them back onto the bed.

"Now open his mouth."

Without question, Spyro reached forward and grasped the moles lower jaw, pulling it open. Then, without any hesitation at all, Lilith proceeded to hock the most violent loogie imaginable.

Spyro's face turned to pure disgust as a ball of green paste flew from Lilith's mouth and into the moles.

"Now tilt his head back and lift his jaw, he shouldn't choke."

" _Shouldn't?_ " Spyro said.

Lilith scoffed. "Fine, I'll do it." With that, she took one foot and forced the mole to swallow. "There."

It was around this time that a door that Spyro had paid exactly no attention to slowly opened. Of course, now he was aware of it and as he turned his head, a middle-aged fire dragon walked out.

"Yay! Coells!" Lilith shouted, bouncing over to the visibly exhausted drake. Despite this, she still jumped up and latching onto his neck.

Coells grunted. "Lilith, please." He raised a foot and pushed her off. "I am not- just, please... not right now."

"Aw, but you-" she tried.

"I am _very_ tired…" He sighed heavily and looked in Spyro's direction, he didn't seem to care. "Do you have anything to eat?"

Lilith thought for a moment before going "Ah-ha!" and reaching up to her horns. To the surprise of literally no one present, even Spyro, she had grape vines twisting around them.

"Here!" Lilith said, picked off a grape bundle.

"Thanks," Coells said, throwing the whole stem in his mouth. He looked Spyro, whose expression still had some reminiscence of disgust from minutes earlier, directly in the face while chewing. "You get used to it…"

"So... are you done?" Lilith asked,

"Ancestors, no," Coells scoffed. "And I'm pretty sure the bastard I was working under would have had me _kept_ working until the job was _completely_ done" He sighed heavily and stretched. "Lucky for me, Volteer just so happened to be walking by."

"And he let you go?" Lilith asked.

"Yup. I could hear the 'manager,' as he referred to himself, yelling as I left," Coells quipped.

"Well that was nice of him," Lilith smiled.

"The only problem is that I'm supposed to go back in an _hour_ ," he continued.

"Oh."

"I can't go back to another _twelve-hour shift_ of that!" Coells whined. "I was spitting out _ash_ , Lilith! _ASH_!"

"Ooh." Lilith reached about again, although more calmly, and pulled him into a hug. "Do you want to try out the booster I've been working on?"

Coel composed himself for just a moment. "Lilith, the last time I 'tried out' one of those syrups you made I ended up vomiting from my nose…" Sighing again, he pinched the bridge of his snout. "No, I think I'll just go back to the room and rest. If they really need me that bad, they can come and get me."

"You know they're going to get you," Lilith commented. "You're one of the only dragons here with fire."

"I know…" he said and began to walk away.

After a few second of silence, Lilith gasped. It was at this point that Spyro, who was little more than the awkward third wheel in the situation, was turned to.

"Hey! You _are_ the purple dragon. Can't you control fire?" Lilith said.

Spyro hadn't actually been paying attention to the exchange, rather, he was more focused on the fact that the mole on the bed was no longer moving and was foaming at the mouth.

"Hm? Yeah?" he instinctively replied.

"That means you could take over for my brother!" Lilith skittered up to him. "Would you?"

Spyro leaned his head as far as possible to look into the eyes of the dragoness standing over him. He still didn't know what was going on. "Uh… sure?"

"Yay!" Lilith said, wasting little time in jumping over Spyro's head and dashing over to Coells.

With eye ridges raised in proper confusion, Spyro looked back to the bed. The mole was, by some sick miracle, sitting upright and wiping the froth from his mouth. He too had an equally confused expression and when his eyes fell on Spyro, he spoke with a hoarse tone.

"'ey, you're that purple one…" The mole swept the room. "Do you know whut the buggers' goin' on?"

Spyro slowly shook his head.

"Huh," the mole said, scratching his chest. Without another word, the previously considered patient flung his legs off the bed and walked away.

There was a moment of genuine quiet, a moment that Spyro took to recap what the actual fuck had happened in the last ten minutes.

"You would really do that for me?" Coells voice sounded out from behind, causing him to turn. "You'd help a complete stranger?"

"Yeah!" Spyro said, trying to recall the subject. "That's... what I do! Usually not on purpose."

Coells let out a breath of relief. "Really? Wow! You're a true friend!" The fire drake reached out and patted Spyro on the shoulder. "If there's anything I can do for you in the future, please, just ask."

Spyro nodded, relaxing his stance as he turned to the next speaker.

"The room you need to go to is at the very end of that hall!" Lilith said and pointed to the door Coells had originally come from. "And I mean all the way, cause it bends like… four times. If you enter a room that doesn't have a massive furnace in it, you're in the wrong room!"

Spyro nodded one last time.

"Okay! Have fun!"

Despite the light-hearted tone Lilith had ended the conversation with, the ensuing four hours were certainly _not fun_ under any right. The first thing Spyro was confronted with after walking through the God-awful maze that was the temple was a sarcastically grouchy, elderly mole whose first sentence set the mood for the entire rest of their encounter.

"Well haven't I been _blessed_ on this _fine evening_. Not only do I get the _pleasure_ of working with a _worthless subordinate_ , his _replacement_ is the _child hero_! The one _chosen by the ancestors_ to _rid the world of evil_! How _deeply fortunate_ for me!" Mind that he was yelling the whole time.

Unfortunately, the moment in which Spyro realized the mole's opinion on him was shortly after he asked what the task was. To which the mole's repose was:

"Ya' see that grate over there? Blow fire into it! Ya' purple wrench! And don't try any soul summoning nonsense! These people are supposed to be dead! Ya' hear me! And ya' better not stop till I tell ya'! If one of those Guardian's comes in and says 'Oh, why aren't all the bodies burned? You're supposed to burn all the bodies!' The blame is on _you_!"

It was also around this time that Spyro realized what he was doing: assisting in the cremation of soldiers and civilians who were killed in the battle. But, the real kicker came when the mole, who had "lovingly" identified himself as the undertaker, brought in the first carcass. And while he did not show it, Spyro had officially lost his shit.

Four sweaty, hot, decay-scented hour later, the undertaker announced that the last of the corpses collected today had been dealt with. Spyro, on the other hand, couldn't care less. He could be the purple dragon of legend all he wanted, but that didn't mean his elemental stamina was infinite.

With a wave of the hand, he was dismissed, leaving the undertaker to clean his tools and cart. As he pushed through the door back into the hall where he first met Lilith, Spyro found the general commotion in the area to be exactly the same. The only difference being that most of the people either working or resting had changed; even The Brick was gone.

The only one he recognized was Lilith, who was, with whatever manic glee she found in caring for the injured, still tending to new patients as they came. Spyro tried his hardest to ignore whatever she was saying as he passed, but it was hard to block out the phrase, "Huh... that worked?" when the subject was someone's life.

Since it was around midnight, the wait for the door to the main hall was smaller. Regardless of such, Spyro did his best to be patient. Once he finally made it through, he found most of the incense bowls extinguished and whatever candles there were had been reduced to wax.

With little to nothing to do, Spyro walked to the other side of the hall, stopping just before the great closed door he had last seen Cynder and Cyril enter. Scanning the mighty carved door, he found no way to open it easily. So, he knocked… twice. After waiting a few seconds, he knocked again. This repeated. It wasn't until five minutes later that there was a loud creak and the door was pushed open.

"Oh! Spyro!" Cynder's head poked through the small crack that the parted door had created. "Where have you been?"

"Can I come in?" Spyro mumbled.

"Uh… Cyril, is it okay for Spyro to come in?" she said, turned behind her. There was a short pause where Spyro could barely hear the Guardian's repose, but after which, Cynder pushed the door open a bit more and stepped aside.

"Thank you…" Spyro said, looking up only to discover that the room was little more than a broom closet with a vaulted ceiling.

"Goodness, Spyro! You look terrible!" the ice drake said, shaking a liquid-filled jar he was holding. "You didn't run into Volteer, did you? Send you on some rubbish task?"

"No," Spyro said, sitting down. "I, uh… I was helping the undertaker."

Cyril stopped shifting around vials. "Ancestors, my boy! The undertaker? How did you get wrapped up in that mess?" he questioned.

"I… I, uh, took it off someone named Coells," Spyro said.

"Lilith's brother?" Cyril started. "Hm, strange. He's a good lad. Not like him to give up on something like that… I'll have to talk Volteer about his shift" He went back to stirring mixtures. "How long ago did you say that was?"

Spyro struggled for a moment to come up with an exact time, but in the end chose something more simple. "About… ten minutes after I dropped Master Brick off?"

Cyril stopped mixing again and peered at a hidden object on his desk. "Four hours!?" He quickly to Spyro, who was promptly leaning against Cynder for support. "You've been in the same room with that wretched undertaker for _four hours?_ "

"Coells said he was there for twelve…"

Cyril sputtered violently and put his concoction down. " _TWELVE_! Well, just the mere thought of that is enough for me! I'm going to talk to Volteer right now about this. _"_ Taking a moment to secure a bag around his chest, Cyril lept to his feet."Oh, and Cynder. That vial there is the last one I need you to check. Should the ancestors provide and it is indeed sterile, place it on the pedestal, please. If not… well, I've tried everything I can." Running across the room, he stopped at the door. "And put Spyro to bed. I'd rather not have him passed out on the floor."

"Okay, Cyril. I'll get right on it," she said, hoisting the half-conscious drake to his feet. "Come on you lump, I already asked Cyril if we could stay here for the night, in this very spacious closet... and he said yes."

Spyro "hmm'd" softly.

"You know, I ran into Volteer today," she said, pushing him towards a large pad on the floor.

Spyro "hmm'd" again.

"You should have seen they way he reacted when I told him you were dead… you know, I think I'm going to do that to Sparx when I see him." Cynder chuckled to herself. "He asked if we wanted to accompany him on a task tomorrow. We'd be going out of the city, but I think I would be nice, so I'll be going. Want to come?"

"Sure…" he said.

"Why do I get the feeling you've said that a lot today," Cynder said. "Alright, here ya' go." She stopped them once they were standing over the pad and loosened her grip, allowing him to fall down. "You good?" She asked.

"Yes… thank you."

"Good," she turned back to Cyril's desk. "Just don't die in your sleep. The joke won't be funny then."

Spyro had already fallen asleep.

"Okay. Let's see what kind of soup Cyril made this time." Cynder said to herself, walking over to the Guardians desk. Boosting herself up, she landed just in front of the jar. Lifting the lid to her nose, she sniffed. "Huh, no fumes." She stuck a toe in the concoction. "And it's not acidic either." Finally, she licked the paste off her toe. "Not… poisonous…" She placed the jar on the pedestal. "Nice."

Whipping off the remaining goop, Cynder looked around the room. Despite the time, she wasn't at all tired. Having been consuming nothing but poisons for four hours had energized her quite a bit. With a short sigh, she spoke aloud.

"I'm gonna go find Sparx and tell him Spyro's dead." With that, she walked off.

* * *

 **End.**

 **Aetheo: That it is. Now is the time for me to mention that I love the character of both Lilith and The Brick.**

 **I try…**

 **Aetheo: I actually think that says a bit more about my preference for large hams and tricksters, but whatever.**

 **What the fuck… is a large ham.**

 **Aetheo: Ask TVTropes.**

 **.**

 **..**

 **...**

 **See, whenever you point something like that out. It feels really weird to me cause, I don't read often and it makes me and what I'm writing feel incredibly predictable.**

 **Aetheo: Tropes Are Not Bad. Tropes Are Tools.**

 **Eh. Okay. Where the fuck does that even come from.**

 **Aetheo: "A ridiculously larger-than-life character, public speaker, or orator full of charisma, energy,** _ **joie de vivre**_ **, blood as hot as the surface of the Sun and poetically powerful speeches with dramatic gestures that can devastate a scene to a billion pieces and transform even the most humdrum scene into the most** _ **GRANDIOSE**_ **." Large Ham.**

 **What the actual fuck? Who the fuck even has the time?**

 **Aetheo: "They usually lack an indoor voice, and greatly relish badass boastings where they will** _ **punctuate**_ **and** emphasize _**EVERYTHING**_ **. The first line from the Large Ham will be dramatic, portentous, often just before the act break and can almost always be replaced with: 'Did somebody order A LARGE HAM?!' Try it at home; it's great fun."**

 **The fuck.**

 **Aetheo: Final note: A/N fodder! We're actually going to do that, so here you go:**

 **What ?**

 **Spyro wasn't exact sure he want to… (my wonderful grammar.)**

 **I hope I haven't been spelling that right...**

 **Father Below, the clowns, they WORKED!**

 **Friendly neighborhood aquaticenes**

" **Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is a grammatically correct sentence in American English. You can figure out why.**

 **Do Grublins eat… no? THEN WHY DO THEY HAVE THE WORD** _ **GRUB**_ **IN THEIR NAME!?**

 _ **Fonna: third-person singular conditional present indefinite**_ **of to weave...**

 **In Hungarian.**

 **Apparently.**

" **Just kep 'im still." Lilith had her head between her wings and was speaking with a muffled tone. "I dn't care how yu du it."** **(Extensively researched by the author)**


	13. 2 Out Of 4 Bugs

**If anyone gets the bug thing, they have my approval.**

 **Aetheo: And my apologies.**

 **See now you're just throwing people off.**

 **Aetheo: And this is not my problem. Plus, I'd pay good money to watch someone be thrown off a bug.**

 **Would the person be smaller or the bug larger?**

 **Aetheo: Why not both?**

 **Medium bug? Cause in the other case you've got some weird constantly changing inverse size superbug.**

 **Aetheo: Corgi-sized bug, proportional person.**

 **Cool. Glad that was cleared up… importance.**

 **Welcome back! See, it's nice to have you. Before we start I'd like to take a shot at my own writing.**

 **Aetheo: Does it need more people taking shots at it? I've been aiming really well.**

 **No, you're good. But I'd like to point out to myself… in a soon to be public document, the drastic changes that have happened in my writing style.**

 **Aetheo: It went from the influences of such authors as JRR Tolkien to a far more reasonable modern-style prose. Not the least of which came from the changing of the preferences of your proofreaders.**

 **I like to think about it in a way that says "Look! Plot! Praise the gods above for this bountiful harvest!" That's what it's like for me.**

 **Aetheo: Funny as it is to watch you make far more spelling and grammar mistakes in the author's notes than in the twenty-five pages of actual story content, perhaps disclaimers are in order?**

 **Yeah, I suppose… alright. Taking on a bug trend. Here are the bugs from BUG'S Life…**

 **Aetheo: And the dragons from DRAGON'S Heart?**

 **Yeah… I wasn't actually going to… fucking nevermind. I was gonna be like fucking PSA-style don't eat peas and ice cream at the same time. Or don't put corn in a salad and use mustard as dressing! I know that one… I did that one.**

 **Aetheo: That's not as bad of a combo as it sounds like. Just don't do chocolate ice cream. Then it's not so good. Perhaps the salad thing… but I'm not a fan of mustard in general. Corn in salad sounds alright though.**

 **This is supposed to be a disclaimer… if anyone couldn't tell...**

 **Aetheo: "Could" might work better.**

 **Yeah just, use your brain. THERE SEE! Fucking salvaged! A use your brain PSA disclaimer! Nailed that shit.**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: 2/4 Bugs**

"So… let me get this straight," Kein said through his shirt, stepping over another knee high mushroom. "We are… _miles deep_ in a forest comprised entirely of mushrooms. We are _clearly_ being stalked by _mushroom spiders_. The air is so polluted with spores that it feels like I'm breathing through tissue paper. And the only reason we're even here is to follow the river you _think_ will get us to this temple…"

There was a sigh from the mushroom above Kein. After a few seconds, Ellix jumped down right before him. Rising up, the irate drake placed his feet on Kein's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

" _Do you have a BETTER IDEA?_ "

Kein closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He had been playing conversational Chutes and Ladders with Ellix ever since he had woken him up. Every time Kein thought he'd broken through and gained half a _centimeter_ of respect, he would roll snake eyes and get sent right back to the very beginning.

"That's not the point I'm trying to make," Kein said, pushing Ellix off with his good hand. "All I'm saying is that all this unnecessary bullshit is happening because you want to take a _chance_. Which is incredibly moronic!"

"As if you could say anything against a _chance_!" Ellix thrust a wing at Kein. "You are the single most lucky _thing_ I've ever seen!"

Growling, Kein pinched his nose. "Alright! Fine! But don't you think there could have been any other, more _safe_ , way of going about this?"

"Oh, my, Ancestors! Of course, yes!" Ellix said. "But until that 'way' becomes blaringly apparent, I see _no reason_ why we should stop!" The dragon took off back into the mushroom tops. "And if you'd get your head out of the mud like the degenerate you are, _maybe_ you could find that solution faster!"

Kein had the most sarcastically bright smile on his face. The kind of smile you use when someone asks you how your shitty day was, which, surprisingly, fit _perfectly_ in context. The best part was that while Ellix was being an ass about it; he was being the kind of ass where Kein _knew_ he was right. The kind of ass where he wasn't making Kein look directly stupid, but rather, where Kein was making himself look stupid. Not even Will was that skilled in the art of… " _debate"_.

At the same time, Kein couldn't ignore the fact that Ellix _was_ right. If the current conditions were really that bad, to him at least, it was technically his responsibility to figure out how to make them better. But God forbid he knew how to go about doing that, seeing that he knew next to nothing about the surrounding area, which could reasonably be described as Candyland, but with the humorless addition of mushrooms.

Unfortunately, the only source of information available to him was Ellix, and he wasn't exactly the most... _cooperative_ person. But, past that point, Kein was free to wing it as much as he wanted! As if that was a new concept to him.

"You know what." From above, Ellix poked his head over. "Just to make sure you don't _brood_ , I'm going to clear up what you said before. First of all-"

"Okay, how about we walk and talk?" Kein interrupted.

Ellix pursed his lips. "Oh? Smarter already?"

"Much…" Kein said dryly.

"Alright," Ellix said, falling heavily beside him. "Two things. First, sure, we're constantly being stalked by mushroom spiders." There was skittering and squeaking to the in bushes next to them. "We've _been_ ever since we entered this place." Further noises emphasized the point. "But answer me this: why _exactly_ does that matter?"

Despite the strange question, Kein knew exactly what he was talking about. No more than five minutes after they had passed into the border of this forest, Kein had been attacked by one of the spiders. At the time, Ellix had gone ahead like that last five times and he was left to deal with the thing himself. Luckily, panicked stabbing was something that turned out to be incredibly effective against the local wildlife.

"Secondly, and I'm going to say this as clearly as possible to make sure you fully understand what I'm about to say." Ellix, halted their walking by placing a wing against Kein's chest. After several seconds, the drake yelled "There are _no spores here_!" and by whatever magic managed to do a sideways flip whose power was used to effectively drop-kick a small mushroom over the treeline.

Unfortunately, before Kein was able to wonder why the action was even necessary, Ellix continued to yell.

"Look in the sky! Look on the ground! Literally look wherever that absent-minded head of yours wants to look! _There are no spores_!" Ellix tool a moment to walk away angrily before turned back. "You know what it probably is?"

"God, I don't know, Ellix. What could it possibly be?" Kein said, deadpanned.

 _Slap._

"It's probably, just a guess here... because your _ribs_ are broken!" Ellix poked him in the chest. "You know? Those things that exist in this area?" Kein was pushed to the ground by a slew of rapid poking.

"God!" Kein attempted to swat away a wing. "Dammit! Ellix! If my fucking ribs were broken, my lungs would be punctured!" Kicking the drake away, Kein stood. "I'd be coughing up blood right now!"

"And how do you know that!" Ellix yelled back, standing as well.

"Because that's what happens when you get broken ribs!" Kein grimaced, picking up a mushroom and chucking it at the drake.

"Well, I can tell you that's _bullshit_!" Ellix said and pouncing at Kein, taking the mushroom to the face. "Cause that's certainly not what happened to me!"

"Then you got fucking lucky!" Kein grunted, holding him back with a knee.

Ellix growled, baring his weight down. "Or maybe _not_ having a lung punctured is normal and everyone else is _unlucky_!"

"Get the fuck- _OFF_!" Kein yelled, gaining just enough leverage to flip Ellix into the bushes behind them. "You fucking piece of _shi_ -" Before he could finish the sentence, he began to violently cough.

Ellix, hearing the rough hacks, sighed loudly and got up. "Oh! That, is, _funny_! Do you think I'm an _idiot_?" Unfortunately, as he crossed over the small mound he had been tossed over, Ellix found Kein on his knees, coughing out phlegm mixed with blood.

After a second of disgust, Ellix said. "You're the single, most ridiculously stupid thing, I've ever seen…" And walked forward. Upon accidentally stepping on a small pool of blood, he grimaced. "Gross."

Hearing this, Kein growled and attempted to stand. Sweat was dripping down his face, mixing quickly with the tails of blood that still hung to his mouth. Leaning heavily against a mushroom, Kein grabbed his side. Looking Ellix straight in the eyes, he wiped his chin.

"I am- _cough_ going to… _stab you_ ," he forced out, angrily.

Ellix's dead expression changed in no way after Kein said this, instead, it only served to intrigue him. "Oh, really?"

"I'm going," Kein continued, pushing himself off and staggering forward. "I'm going to take this knife- _cough_ and I'm going to cut you down the face..."

"And?" The drake stepped to the side as Kein walked passed him.

Kein pushed his way out of the clearing they had been in to find a narrow, bending path. "I'm going to- _cough_ , to rip your wings... into confetti."

"That's nice," Ellix replied offhandedly.

"And I'm going to slice off that tail of yours… make the biggest fucking feather pen- _cough_ and write a sarcastic eulogy… while I throw your corpse in the mud." Kein stopped his marching to catch his breath. During which time, Ellix sat down next to him, expression still unchanged.

After some time, Kein asked. "Do giant birds- _cough_ exist here?"

Ellix's response was a shrug. "Are you done now?"

Kein gave the drake a long stare before moving his eyes around the forest. After a second, he looked back. "Don't you have to like, disappear into the woods again?" Regaining a grip on his bag, Kein continued. "To fucking- _cough_ , I don't know… masturbate or something? God knows it might help."

Ellix recoiled, grinning loosely. "I didn't know I turned you on that much. If you want to deal with it, I'll go for a while." The change in visage didn't last long. "Unfortunately for you, I want to be there to watch you die mid-stride and faceplant into the dirt."

"Fine, whatever…" Kein said, waving him off. "Just do it in the- _cough_ canopy where I can't hear you drag your feet across the ground." Fortunately, by the time he had spoken his second word, Ellix had already flown off.

Kein let his head fall back, taking the small amount of time presented to relax. He had no doubt that if anything was going to kill him now, it was that _thing_ , Ellix. It was probably going to happen within the next couple days. In an effort to get to this so-called 'temple'. He was going to be asked to do some overly dangerous task that, while at the time seemed like a bad idea, turned out to be a horrible one.

The best part was that Kein knew Ellix would say something like "Well that's a shame," after he bit it.

Groaning, Kein pulled his satchel off his shoulder. The knot he had tied in the strap was starting to hurt. Of course, this was little in comparison to things like a broken arm and a punctured lung, and all it really did was add to the number of things his one arm had to carry. Which not only included the latter, but also his pants, which threatened to tear off at any point in time.

"Practical problems…" Kein mumbled.

"Hey," Ellix appeared from atop another mushroom. "I get the fact that you're trying to be all tough now and play it alone. But, you're wasting _a lot_ of time."

Kein immediately forgot was he was thinking about. "Thanks, I didn't- _cough_ , I didn't realize that…"

"No problem," the drake said, disappearing for just a moment. "And if you're having problems with your pants-"

"How do you know... what pants are?" Kein interrupted.

"What? Do you think I'm a savage or something?" Ellix asked, scoffing. "Like I was saying, if you're having pant problems, just drop 'em."

"I'm not going to-" Kein tried.

"Unless you're really self-conscious and your pride is lacking... pfft, _pride_ … In which case, I guess you could untie that strap there and use it as a belt, but, hey." An uncharacteristically humble expression crossed his face."That's up to you."

Kein looked to the cut satchel strap then to the multitude of intact belt loops on his normally fitting pants.

"And yes, I know what a belt is." There was a _fush_ as Ellix flew off.

For the next few seconds, Kein stood, licking the inside of his mouth and staring at the spot Ellix had previously been. Holding a breath, he undid the knot and fished the two sides through opposite ends of his pants. When he found that, not only did the solution work, the straps had a noticeable amount of extra length to them, Kein yelled.

"God. Fucking. _Cough-Dammit_!"

The next thirty minutes for Kein were nothing but walking, wheezing, and knife holding. Sure the path he was following was well trodden on, making for a relatively mudless journey, but the "Shmiders," as he had come to call them, more than made up for that. And it wasn't the ear-piercing screeching that made them difficult. More, the fact that, when one of the beasts would throw itself onto the path and just sit there staring at him, _screaming futilely_ , Kein would have to cut a piece of dirt out of the ground and throw it just to get the thing to go away.

This happened way more than a reasonable universe would have allowed.

Currently, Kein was in that exact scenario, only, at some point, he had found himself next to a golden river, so he had an ample supply of rocks at hand.

"Fucking… _Shmider_!" he said, hucking his third rock. For whatever reason, this particular one seemed to give fewer shits than Ellix did, showing this by the fact that it had taken three rocks to the face and done absolutely nothing.

"Having issues?" Kein looked to his upper right to see the aforementioned drake perched on top of a mushroom cap, preening.

"Jesus, I don't- _cough_ know! You seem to be pretty- _cough_ insightful on these kinds of things," Kein replied.

Ellix was silent as he watched Kein pick up and throw another rock. "Why don't you just stab it?"

Kein sputtered. "Pfft- Wha- I'm not just- _cough_ going to stab it!"

"Why not?" Ellix asked.

"Because- _cough_." Kein coughed. "It's just... "

"Just what? In your way? Hostile? Attempting to kill you?" The drake asked nonchalantly.

"Man, fuck off," Kein huffed, picking up another rock and chucking it. The stone hit smack-dab on the creatures first right leg and for whatever reason, this set it off. However, rather than skittering off like every other one, it screeched painfully and rolled into the river, immediately sinking to the bottom and drowning.

There was a second of silence shared between the two.

"I hope you're proud of yourself," Ellix commented.

"I- _cough_ , am!" Kein said loudly.

"So if you're happy that you killed it, why didn't you just stab it in the first place?" Ellix said back.

"Man, _fuck you_! Didn't you say that you- _cough_ , that you were going to fuck about in the woods or something?" Kein said, using a hand to motion off into the forest.

"Yeah, but I found something," Ellix said. "I think we should avoid it. But since you seem so sure of yourself, I'll leave it up to you."

"Okay, great!" Kein said. "What the fu- _cough_ -uk, is it!"

"It's like a tiny village," Ellix said. "The houses are made of mushrooms and garbage. I couldn't even tell what was living there because they were so, unnecessarily, _bright_."

" _What_?" Kein's expression added incredible emphasis to the word.

"Exactly," Ellix said. "That's why I don't think we shouldn't go near it."

Kein reset his expression into the scowl that had become custom. As much as he hated it, Ellix was right. If he didn't know what lived at this newly discovered village, neither did Kein. Heck, for all either of them knew, these new beginning could be living bombs. Of course, the practicality of that was… _low_ , Kein didn't put it past this place to deliver.

"I suppose so," Kein said, wiping his mouth. "Is there any quick way around it?"

"The quickest way would to just skirt through it,' the drake said. "In all honesty, from what I saw, the place is _really_ small, and despite how loud you are, I'm sure you could do it."

"Thanks," Kein deadpanned.

"If that's not good enough for you. The _safest_ way would be just crossing the river here and traveling on that side," Ellix continued.

Turning, Kein looked at the golden, murky water with disgust. Sure, it _was_ golden, but rather than looking like gold-tinted water, it was more of a golden syrup. And since he couldn't see the riverbed nor were there any ways across that wouldn't get him drenched, Kein was inclined to vote against the idea.

"I think we've forgone the word… _safe_ ," he said.

"Alright," Ellix shrugged. "Just-"

"Wait." At this point, Kein remembered something. "Why don't you just do that weird… portal stuff."

"You mean this?" Ellix said. Suddenly, the area next to him warped violently and a black vortex flashed to life.

Kein's eye twitched. "Yes… that." It had been pretty easy for Kein to figure out what these black portals could do, seeing as Ellix was more than willing to use them freely and his memory from the day before.

"Kein, as soon you'd enter this, you would lose all control of your body," the drake said.

"Okay, you _know_ that's not- _cough_ , true," Kein replied.

" _Bullshit_ that's not true!" Ellix shot back. "And anyway, as if I'd carry your fat sack of a body."

"Do you not remember what happened after you fucking- _cough_ kidnapped me?" Kein yelled.

" _Kidnapped_?" Ellix shouted, looking appalled for the first time Kein had seen. "All I remember is me _saving_ your worthless ass then you kicking me in the face!"

"Fucking exactly!" Kein yelled. When Ellix growled at him, Kein growled back.

After several seconds of lowly growling, a burst of laughter sounded from next to them.

"You two are _amazing_!" There was so much laughter between words it was hard to tell what was being said.

Instantly, Ellix turned and struck at the intruder with his tail blade.

"Hey! Watch it there buddy!" The giggly tone the new voice had disappeared. "I'll have you know I'm trained in self-defense!" Soon after, the voice began to make overly stereotyped karate noises.

From his backed position, Kein could see exactly who was speaking, and even if he wanted to, he couldn't have said anything himself. The thing that had dodged Ellix's lightning-quick attack was something that Kein's mind could only identify as a brightly glowing dragonfly. That alone, though, wasn't enough. The real thing that separated his ability to speak from total, disbelieving silence was the fact that it was shouting and using its _human-like_ _hands and arms_ to perform a poor excuse for martial arts.

It was about this time that Ellix recovered from his accidental miss. But the fact that he missed didn't seem to instill him with any humility. As he turned to peer upon the dragonfly, his expression changed from pure malice to his usual indifference.

"Oh. It's one of you guys," he said and began to walk away. However, when it scoffed, Ellix turned back.

"Um, excuse me?" it said. "I am not a 'one of you guys.'" When Ellix raised an eyebrow, it continued. "I will have you know that I am _Sparx_! Hero, of the Dragon Realms!" After saying this, Sparx flew over and began to knock on Ellix's head. "So your superiors some respect, eh?"

Ellix, already having had enough, attempted to devour the insect. He missed. "I don't care who you are, you annoying _gnat_ ," Ellix said, rubbing his eye. "You could be the king-of-the-world for all I care."

"Ha! Joke's on you! I'm the king-of-the-world's brother!" Sparx yelled in reply.

"Really…" It wasn't even a question.

"Yeah, man! My bro' saved the world." Sparx waved his hand across the forest, acting as if this forest could be used to accurately depict the world.

"And _who_ exactly might your 'bro' be?" Ellix questioned.

"Spyro, duh. Geez, you've been living under a rock or something?" When no response came, Sparx continued. "Spyro? Purple dragon? Can shoot all the things from his face. No?"

"Look, buddy," Ellix said. "I don't care. I don't care who you are or who 'Spyro' is-"

"You say that!" Sparx interrupted. "But just wait till he gets back. I'll make sure he gives it to ya' good." The last few words were said through his teeth.

"Okay, fine! If you think that's what'll happen!" Ellix pressured himself close to Sparx. "I will gladly _take it_ from your bro."

"Uh…" Sparx didn't seem to sure now. "Well… isn't that unfortunate! For you… then. Because he isn't here… right now."

"Really? Then where might I be able to find him?" Ellix was growling.

Sparks looked to his sides nervously. "That… I cannot say."

Off to the side where neither Sparx nor Ellix had bothered to look, Kein sat. During the time they had been bickering, he had come to establish and accept certain things. He had accepted the fact that dragons and talking dragonflies were a thing. He had accepted that, yes, forests consisting of almost nothing but mushrooms could exist and that there were _no spores_. He had even concluded that the swamp's water was actually normal, despite how strangely viscous it appeared, and the plant-life that grew on its surface made it seem that way.

And this only scratched the surface of the minute things he had come to terms with. But, there were two things that lingered. The first was wondering how long these establishments would last. How long would it be until something else came around and sent him into another mind-fuck were he'd have to awkwardly sit there and work it out. Or was there ever going to be a point in which he became so numb that the world could _actually_ flip before his eyes and he'd just accept it instantly?

But even that, even the idea of total and utter acceptance wasn't the true forefront of his thought. No, the thing that kept him speechless as the two continued to fight; the thing that left him on the ground, twiddling a rock in his fingers; the thing that prevented him from fully appreciating the fact that there was a talking dragonfly floating a few feet in front of him, was one of the first things Sparx had said.

"This place is called the... _Dragon Realms_?"

That sentence set off a chain of events that, by some act of luck Kein could not describe, ended up with him sitting outside the entrance of finely furnished and treated mushroom. Not that he was complaining. Currently, he was being given a small bowl of stew from the home's residents, who, despite the massive size difference, were more than happy to provide for him.

"Thank you, Mrs.?" Kein said, removing a carved mushroom top from over a small fire beneath the house. He had already gotten over the validity of a mushroom as a bowl. Porousness notwithstanding, there were weirder things afoot.

"No need for pleasantries, Kein. You can just call me Nina." Nina, or 'thank the ancestors, they're multicolored,' as Ellix had put it, was Sparx's mother.

"Thank you- _cough_ , Nina," Kein said, taking a sip from the steaming bowl. "I can't tell you how much this means to me."

"It's the least I could do, given your current state," Nina replied. Following, she flew down from Kein's eye level to a small contraption beneath the house. Pulling a lever situated to the side of it, a strangely normal sized bucket fell over, spilling water into the smoldering fire.

Deciding not to question, Kein continued. "Thank you. But still, I appreciate your help."

"Kein, please." Nina, having reset the machine, flew up to Kein and placed a hand on his shoulder. "It would have been wrong for me to not help. How about we changed the subject." Looking over his head, she said. "What about your friend there? What's his story?"

Kein had already told Nina the nature of his predicament since it wasn't exactly sensitive information. When he mentioned the first instance of his attacker, she made a comment on his appearance, which apparently, closely resembled that of an ape. Of course, Kein was confused by this. He couldn't deny it, but at the same time, nor could he find a reason for its importance. That was until Nina gave him a brief summary of the war between the Dragon and ape races. Past that point, Kein had come to the conclusion that the dragon who attacked him was probably a veteran in that war. But knowing this didn't put Kein's mind to rest.

But before Kein could part what little knowledge he had on the drake, another voice interjected.

"Nina!" A dragonfly appeared from around the house carrying a small pack on his back. "I thought we agreed on no more dragons." Despite having passed right in front of him, the presumed husband didn't notice Kein and disappeared into the house.

"He's not ours!" Nina yelled back. After a response came in the form of "You scared me for a second there," Nina continued. "Sorry about that, Kein. Please, tell me about your-"

"Great Ancestors!" It was the other dragonfly. "Nina, there's a... Giant? I don't know." He was waving a hand in confusion across Kein's body. "What's he doing here?"

"Flash, please. He has a name," Nina said.

"Ah! My bad. Sorry if I offended you." Flash stuck his hand out, "The names Flash! It's nice to meet you."

Kein took the extremely one-sided handshake. "Kein, the pleasure is mine," he wheezed.

Flash put his hands on his hips. "What, uh, what happen to you, my friend?"

"He was attacked by a dragon," Nina filled for him.

"Really?" Flash hm'd. "I guess I can understand that; you do look mighty ape-like. Still though, to be attacked by a dragon and survive! You must be quite a skilled fighter!"

Kein chuckled through a cough. "No, I think I just got lucky."

"Ah. Well, whatever the reason, my wife here makes the best stew around!" Flash exclaimed. "You'll be on your feet in no time!"

"No matter how many times you say it, Flash; soup does not heal wounds," Nina said.

"Well, it certainly tastes good enough to!" The two bickered for a moment over the idea of healing soup, but in the end, they hugged it out. After which, Flash turned to Kein with a worried expression. "Say, it wasn't that dragon there that did this to you?"

Kein coughed. "Ellix? No, he actually saved me."

"Yes," Nina confirmed. "Kein told me the story of how it happened. Quite mysterious if you ask me. We were just talking about him before you interrupted."

"Oh! Well, don't mind me then. Please, continue," Flash said.

"Uh, we met, maybe… ten minutes after I was attacked." Turning, Kein saw Ellix surrounded by the village's members. The swarm had been on him, but Nina had shooed them off before he had become who overwhelmed. "We don't know much, apart from each other's' names."

A mere twenty feet away, Ellix was lying on his stomach, surrounded on all angles by creatures he had quickly labeled the most annoying things he had ever encountered. It was literal torture for him, being verbally harassed by this many voices at once. Most of the questions were so pointless that he questioned how _dense_ these people were for coming up with them!

It was all, "what are you?" or "why are you so big?" or "hey you look like that freak Spyro!" Who is Spyro!? Everyone was talking about him like he was the next best thing to packed lunches! Actually, _better_!And what's better than a packed lunch?

The only reason Ellix didn't use his powers to escape was because, at some point, someone had asked if he could do anything _cool_ , to which his immediate response was "Isn't the fact that I'm taking your nonsense cool enough?" Unfortunately, none of them got the hint. The only way this actually tied back around to his element was that if he used it to escape, they'd think was it cool; if he used it to suck them into it, they'd think it was cool; and if he chose to push himself and attempt to consume the entire village, no one would know what the heck was going on!

He was literally trapped by spite!

"Hey, hey!" Ellix, _very slowly,_ turned to the voice. "Hey! What's your name?"

"Ellix." He didn't care about this name. "I've said it several times already."

"How old are you?" Another asked, excitedly.

"Seventeen, you weird freak." He didn't care about his age.

"Where do you live?" A third questioned.

"In Avalar, and if you stalk me, I will eat you." He didn't care where he lived!

"Why do you have wings?" This dragonfly was clearly younger than the rest.

Ellix stuttered. "What kind of asininely hypocritical question is that?"

"Hypo… hypocrizifal?" The dragonfly attempted.

"Oh, my-" Ellix buried his face in the dirt. He wanted out, he wanted to get out so badly. To escape the _buzz_ that was. The only problem with that was _Kein_ and his apparently _active_ sociability!

"Can you do anything cool?"

Ellix immediately shot up and whipped around to face the speaker. This dragonfly was older than the rest, evident by his slouched stance and half-lidded eyes. He also had a _hat_ , but that was beside the point.

" _Cool_?" Ellix asked in a demanding tone.

Despite his aggression, the dragonfly remained unchanged. "Yeah. You're a dragon, aren't you? Doesn't that mean you can do like, fire or something?"

Ellix grinned maliciously. "Well aren't you a big boy for knowing what a dragon is! I bet that gets you _mad points_ at your little club meetings!"

"Mad points…" The dragonfly repeated dully.

"So, you wanna see something cool? Well, here ya' go!" Without a second thought, Ellix outstretched a paw. The air between his claws warped briefly before the area imploded and a small void appeared. The surrounding airborne spectators shook from the portals pull.

The dragonfly began to nod in approval. "That _is_ cool." Unfortunately, Ellix wasn't done.

"You want to see the _coolest_ part?" Without any warning, Ellix proceeded to flick the black hole-esque portal at the person in question. Having not the time to even gasp, the dragonfly was promptly consumed and the portal vanished from sight.

For the next several seconds, Ellix sat there with his arms crossed, staring into space with an expression that said 'I have no idea what you're talking about.' Of course, having witnessed the possible death of one of their village members, the rest of the dragonflies were silent.

A moment later, there was a slow whining sound. With a small _pop,_ the portal reappeared at ground level and spat out the teenage dragonfly.

Moving into a sitting position, the dragonfly began to drone, "Cooooooooool…" before shakily flying off.

Ellix was able to savor the glorious quiet for just long enough to regain his nerve. Which was, in the end, a good thing, seeing as only a second later did the youngest present speak.

"I can do something cool too! Look!" By whatever magical flexibility chitin apparently allowed, the young dragonfly proceeded to bend backward enough to bite her tail. "See?" It said.

Ellix was thoroughly unamused. "That's disgusting."

Twenty feet in the opposite direction, Kein, Nina, and Flash all sat silently as they independently choose how to interpret what just happened.

"He's _interesting_ , to say the least," Kein said, looking away as all the younger dragonflies began to show Ellix the "cool" things they could do.

"That's certainly an understatement," Flash said. "I've never seen an ability like that. Do you know what element he is?"

Kein pulled the bowl from his mouth and coughed. "Flash, I'm going,to be honest. This…" He waved the bowl across the sky. "All of _this_. It's all very... _foreign_ to me." Flash took on an incredulous look. "A few days ago I would have laughed at the idea of… of-of dragons and elements; mushroom forests and, please don't take this the wrong way, but, _sentient dragonflies_." When his expression remained unchanged, he continued. "Where I come from, all of these things would be like-" Kein took a moment to formulate the words. "-it would be like a fairytale."

Flash sighed. "Ah, well. Life's a fairytale, isn't it?"

" _No_ …" Kein said immediately. "No, it's not."

Flash blinked. "Ha! Well, that's where our opinions differ Master Kein! Regardless, it was nice to meet you." Flash thrust a hand forward once more, once the shake was complete he began to walk off. "I hope your time here continues to be pleasant." Once he had disappeared into the house, Nina spoke.

"Flash can get excited at times. I hope he wasn't too much for you," she said.

"No, he's fine, Nina. You have all been- _cough_ , too kind to me. It would be wrong if I were to say otherwise," Kein said, curling the collar of his jacket over his face and hacking into it.

Kein's strained breathing afterward caused Nina to give a concerned look. "Something really needs to be done about that." She hm'd nervously. "Unfortunately, I don't think our healer knows how to work with your… physique. What are you planning on doing?"

Kein continued to cough as he spoke. "Ellix sai- something about a tem- temple."

"Oh, yes! The Dragon Temple," Nina said. "Yes, they have very good healers there, but… what if they mistake you for something you're not?"

"I've already thought about that," Kein said. "And I'm hoping Ellix's presence is enough…"

"That's a lot of trust you're putting into someone you've just met," Nina said.

"I know," Kein said, stone-faced. "I just hope I'm not misleading myself."

"Well," Nina said. "I hate to say it but, you are doing yourself any good staying here. I think it's about time you got moving again."

"Agreed," Kein said. "Thank you, Nina. For everything you've done."

"You're welcome, Kein," she said. "Flash! Come out and say goodbye to our guest!"

There was a loud bang from inside the mushroom home. After a few seconds, Flash hovered out holding a cup. "Huh? Oh, leaving, are we? Well, in that case, I'll have to give you one more of these!" Flash promptly stuck a hand out, smiling. "It was truly nice to meet you, Kein! Please, come visit us when you're… better."

"Yes," Nina said. "You're welcome here anytime, Kein."

Shifting himself to his feet, Kein spoke. "Thank- _cough_ , you. Both of you."

Together, the three of them walked over to where Ellix was still being assaulted. When he saw them approach, he stood up and shook the crowd off him.

"Are you done? Cause I'm done," Ellix said once Kein got close.

"Yes, I'm 'done.'" Kein replied in equal annoyance.

"Good, I'm leaving now," the drake said.

"Alright, geez. Hold on." Turning, Kein spoke to Nina and Flash. "Thank you for your hospitality, Nina."

"It wasn't a problem, Kein," she said. "I hope your journey becomes safer than it has been."

"Thank you," Kein replied.

"Hey, where are you two going, anyway?" Flash asked.

"We appreciate the concern, but it is none of _your_ concern," Ellix said abruptly. With that, he turned and walked off, using his wings as riot shields to push back the mob that had formed behind them. "Come on, Kein. We're wasting time."

"Yeah, alright!" Kein shouted. Looking back one last time, he mouthed the word 'interesting' before departing with a wave of the hand. After a short walk, he fell into step with Ellix. "Why didn't you want them to know where we were going?" he asked. When the drake failed to say anything, Kein continued. "You don't have a reason, do you?"

"Do I need a reason?" Ellix snapped.

"Yes!" Kein said. "Those people were being- _cough_ , _nice_ to us, Ellix."

"They were being nice to _you_ ," Ellix said.

"That's because- I allowed- them to be hospitable," Kein replied, coughing continuously. "You didn't acc- _cough_ -ept what they were _generously_ offe-"

"I didn't accept anything from them because I didn't _want_ anything from them," Ellix interrupted. "I don't want to get wrapped up in some village business just because I _happen_ to be passing through at the time! They had _nothing_ to offer me so I don't want _anything_ to do with them!"

"That is… _cough_ , _incredibly_ , narrow-minded," Kein said with a scowl.

"Yeah, well. You know what? If you think it's so much better there, why don't you do both us a favor and _stay_." Malice dripped from his tone.

Kein said nothing, only deepening his glare.

"That's what I thought," Ellix mumbled. "You no goo-"

"Hey! Guys!" The two turned to see Sparx frantically attempting to catch up with them. "Guys! Wait for me!"

"Ancestors, please. What could you possibly want?" Kein could feel annoyance steam off Ellix as he spoke.

Once caught up, Sparx placed his hands on his back and stretched. "Phew. Man, what is your problem? You need to take a chill pill."

Kein blinked. " _Cough_ -how do you kno-"

"Thanks for the advice," Ellix replied. "Now, would you mind explaining why you're bothering us?"

Sparx waved Ellix off. "Bothering? Pfft, please. This is nothing. If you reall-"

"I will kill you…"

Sparx chuckled nervously. "Heh, yeah. That's what I was gonna say…"

Kein sighed. "Ellix, just… What was it you _cough_ -wanted, Sparx?"

"Oh, yeah!" The dragonfly snapped. "I was gonna tell you that the place you're going is, like, gone."

"Gon-" Kein tried.

"And how exactly do you know where we're going?" Ellix demanded.

"Come on! It's super obvious!" Sparx said. "I mean, I used to live here and all, but... There's not much in the way of interesting sights." He leaned in close. "Don't let my dad hear that though."

"Fine. In that case, what do mean by ' _gone_?'" Ellix asked, ignoring the sarcastic 'thanks' from his left.

"Well, according to a very credible source of mine, the whole temple was ripped from the ground by the Dark Master and suspended above a volcano, thousands of feet in the air." Sparx looked through his skyward arms. "That may sound fake, but I can assure you. It is very true."

Kein coughed. "Who's the Dar-"

"Who said it sounded fake?" Ellix asked.

"I did," Sparx replied, smiling proudly and pointing to himself. That smile quickly vanished. "Wait… you are sly."

"Yeah, I don't need you to tell me that," Ellix said, after which he continued walk.

"Hey! Where are you goin'?" Sparx shouted.

"To the 'super obvious' temple…" the drake replied.

"But I just said the temple was _gone_. As in not there," Sparx turned to Kein and spoke through his teeth. "And I thought my bro was stubborn."

"I heard that," Ellix quipped.

"Good!" Sparx yelled back. "I think…"

"What are you- _cough_ trying to accomplish, E- _cough_ -llix? If the temple's gone then we nee- _cough_ -eed to find somewhere else to go," Kein said, managing to butt in.

Ellix stopped and whipped around, starting yet another rant with a condescending 'oh.' "Do you _really_ believe what he's saying? Actually, don't answer that." Kein closed his mouth. "And what reason do _I_ have to believe him!"

"Well that's rude," Sparx commented. Unfortunately, this gave him all of Ellix's attention.

"Seriously, give me three reasons as to why we should believe you. Cause I can give you three as to why I shouldn't!" The drake yelled.

Before Sparx could attempt, Kein spoke. "This isn't an interroga- _cough_ -tion, Ellix. He hasn't given us a reason to _not_ trust him!"

"Well isn't that just cute of you!" Ellix said. "Fine, let's _assume_ , just for a moment, that the temple is gone. Kein, back to what you said. _Where in the world_ would we even go? Just like the _gnat_ said, there isn't a lot around here! And unless he has some more _very credible_ knowledge of somewhere else, then you're out of luck aren't you?"

"Actually…" Sparx said.

"Shut up," Ellix continued his previously thought. "Now, let's _assume_ that there was somewhere else. Do we know where it is? No! Do we know how far away it-"

"I mean, this is probably a bad time, cause you two are fighting and stuff, but…" Sparx said, motioning between the two. "I know where you guys could go."

After a few seconds of looking like he was going to individually dissect each part of the dragonfly's body, Ellix asked. "And where might that be?"

Sparx moved back from behind Kein's head. "Oh, uh. You guys could go to… the... dragon city! Yeah!"

Ellix deadpanned. "You mean Warfang?"

"Yup!" Sparx exclaimed. "That's the one! And before you say it. Yes, I do know how to get there."

"Which is?" Ellix asked.

"You just go North from the Swamp Temple!" Sparx said.

There was a long moment of silence while what Sparx just said sunk in.

"Yeah," Ellix said, already knowing what everyone was thinking, "exactly. Anything _else_ you'd like to say?"

Sparx thought for a moment, counting on his fingers and mumbling. "Uh, let's see. Point- wave hands- make a remark… Nope! That is it."

"Kein?" Ellix asked.

Kein threw his hand up for a second. "What is War-"

"Good," Ellix said. "Now that everything has-"

"Wait!" Sparx interrupted "I've got on-"

"Now that _everything_ has been said," Ellix was staring Sparx dead in the eyes, "we can continue."

"Well, that may be true," Sparx said. "But you're not gonna get far travelin' like you are. No siree." Ellix's silent, raised eyebrow prompt Sparx to continue. "See, the temple's still a while off and with the condition he's in," he pointed to Kein and scoffed. "You'd be lucky to make it in a few days at best."

"Okay, I fail to see the problem," Ellix said.

"Remember!" Sparx exclaimed. "I'm a local here! And let me tell you; the wildlife here gets especially rowdy in the later hours."

"Okay… and? It's not like that's really an issue for me and Kein's already been attacked like… what? Four times? By those spiders," Ellix said.

"Spiders? Oh, boy. Don't you need to learn a thing or two," Sparx laughed. "Please, do you really think that there would just be spiders? Ha!" The dragonfly continued to laugh for the next few seconds, breaking his chuckles with mumbles of 'just spiders.' "But seriously, though, not only do you got the Bulb Spiders, but then there's also Frog Weeds and Growths. If I had to put them on a scale… I'd have to say, Frog Weeds at the bottom, then Bulb Spiders, then Growths."

"What's a Gro-"

"Okay, that still doesn't mean much to me," Ellix said.

"It seems that I have to go into detail with you. See this guy right here?" Sparx said, flying up to Kein and placing a hand on his shoulder. "This guy, is like, a fillet steak."

Kein blinked. "How do you- _cough_ , nevermind."

Sparx ignored him. "All cooked up and ready to be served at some fancy in-swamp nighttime feast! Where all the hundreds of Frog Weeds and Bulb Spiders, maybe a Growth, will come up and take a bite out of him!" Sparx flew over Kein's head and made biting noises. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'd rather not get eaten."

"So you're suggesting we stop every night and wait 'till morning?" Ellix asked.

Sparx tapped his chin for a moment. "More or less, yeah."

Before Ellix could retort, Kein began to again cough, ending the fit by spitting up a ball of bloody mucus. "Yeah," he started. "I'm not a fan of the- _cough_ whole 'few days' thing."

"If the temple's gone why exactly does speed matter?" Ellix asked.

"You're the one who wanted to- _cough_ go there in the first place! And wouldn't… _Cough_ \- speed be in our best interest? Since we have to go North from there anyways." Kein's said, wiping his mouth.

"Yeah, but it's still a few days off. Are you really planning on pushing yourself to get there faster? Cause the "North" it's exactly going to change all that soon." Ellix said.

"You know, if you asked the local, that's me, he might tell you how to get there faster," Sparx said, crossing his arms.

Ellix turned to Sparx, disgusted. "Should I even have to ask?"

"Well, I mean, polite doesn't seem to be your thing, so, I guess not," Sparx replied.

"Um, _hello_? Are you dense?" Ellix was pissed, genuinely pissed. "I think this has gone pass politeness! You're literally sitting there with information that would help us get to our location more quickly and safely, yet you decided to withhold it and instead chose to make half-assed remarks and shitty jokes. You're actually being more of a jackass than I am right now!"

"Right-" Sparx's voice cracked. There were a few seconds where he said nothing as he attempted to adjust himself under Ellix's scrutinizing glare. "Uh, first, you are following the wrong river. You got the river part right… at least."

"I don't need your flattery," Ellix said.

"O… kay. So, I'll, uh. I'll take you to the right one…" Sparx then began to float in the opposite direction they had been walking along the current stream. When he encountered a fork they had not noticed, he turned and keep going. After thirty minutes and several more forks, the group pushed through a thick patch of thicket and were presented with an extremely large river.

"I present to you: The Silver River!" Sparx had regained his luster during the travel time. "Or… rather the Gold River! No, but it- The Interracial River! Yeah, that works."

"I'm not even going to- _cough_ , to say it," Kein choked.

"Say what?" Sparx asked. "Bah, nevermind. Alright! Now you guys are going the right way! "

"Thanks," Ellix huffed. "Up or downstream?"

"Down. Boom! Sparx just saved you guys like, half a day!" Sparx said.

"Yeah," Ellix said. "That's nic-" Abruptly, Kein began to cough again. The intensity of the hacks was enough to force him to his knees and eventually left him seated on the ground, groaning painfully.

"I think… it needs to be- _cough_ , be a bit faster than that." Kein's voice was raspy, and it was clear to the two that speaking was a chore.

"Well, I don't know what you want me to do," Ellix said. "I can't carry you that far, so unless something _way too convenient_ were to happen within the nex-" A snap to Ellix's left cut him off.

"Hey! I'm convenient!" Sparx said.

Ellix deadpanned. "I seriously doubt you can do-"

"No, no wait! Hear me out!" he said frantically. "See, when I was younger, my parents used to tell me how they found my bro."

"And?" Ellix asked?

"And, they said he floated in on a mushroom cap, so," he paused for the dramatic reveal, "mushroom boat!"

Ellix raised an eyebrow at Sparx's jazz-hands. Taking an audible breath, he turned to Kein and looked him dead in the eyes.

"You just got out-smarted by a bug."

* * *

 **Aetheo: Hey! I'm an incredibly convenient plot device with mild relation to the base story! Don't ignore me!**

 **Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. Tropes are tools. I literally have to say that to myself when writing certain things cause it hurts.**

 **Aetheo: I'm not sure if you see all the ones I point out. Take Ellix, for example:**

 **Farm boy**

 **Different opinions about openness than his family**

 **Arcane powers that nobody understands**

 **More conventionally modern sexual ideals**

 **etc.**

 **See like, the problem I have with tropes is that some of them are literally real life things. Can you consider a real life thing a fucking trope? That just seems hypocritical to me.**

 **Aetheo: Yes.**

 **Trope: /** **trōp/ a figurative or metaphorical use of a word or expression.**

 **Look out, Google's gonna sue us now.**

 **Aetheo: They pull it from other sites first. Plus, can you be sued for defining a word? There's only so much you can own.**

 **But who's got more money?**

 **Aetheo: They do. But, at the end of the day, Activision probably owns this already so…**

 **And now we have an** _ **actual**_ **disclaimer. Plus didn't you say something about Gdoc before with the fucking terms of service?**

 **Aetheo: Yeaahh… basically, we're writing words and they aren't ours to make money off of.**

 **Well since we can't make money off this to begin with… I see exactly one problem.**

 **Aetheo: You see a problem? I see an obstacle to be removed.**

 **Activision?**

 **Aetheo: *Kills author***

…

 **See, it's funny cause we live like… 1000+ miles away from each other.**

 **Aetheo: Don't even bother with the plus, says google. Just… 1000.**

 **Author Fodder:**

 **Fished the two side through opposite ends of his pant…**

 **Let's put some more attention on the Interracial River… what's its story?**

 **Do portals have suction? Or is it a Black Hole? Is this explaining Black Holes? It is a black hole. In the** _ **fabric of the universe.**_ **DooWEEEEEOOOOOOO**

 **Are we just gonna forget that Kein has like, fucking broken ribs? Shit's dangerous. Like… life-threatening. He gon die. Huh, thank god no one's jumping on him or anything then… That's a really shitty out-of-canon chekhov's gun.**


	14. Severe Case Of Monachopsis And In Absent

**A/N:**

 **Among the other things you'll be doing today, why not spend some time suffering in silence as you wonder what kind of ass fuck sideways update schedules I'm somehow capable of.**

 **Aetheo: Brought to you by the author getting off his lazy bum and typing a few words. I guess.**

 **I actually don't really know what to say right now. Kinda a loss.**

 **Aetheo: You do that. Proofreading while sick is sucky anyways. Less is more. More is less. Reality is false. That sort of thing.**

 **Yee.**

 **I mean, I guess we could ask people what they're doing today. Cause neither of us are doing shit all.**

 **Aetheo: Not quite true. I'm going to attempt to sleep with a stuffy nose and congested as fuck throat. So far I've gotten 4 hours in as many days.**

 **Aetheo: ...I think we still need to unclaim things.**

 **Indeed, the disclaiming.**

 **Aetheo: Y'know, when the sick person is the one advocating putting effort into something, the world feels fucked up.**

 **Aetheo: Nonetheless, it is the world we live in because when I attempt to expound further upon the author's ideas his response is "neato" followed by silence.**

 **Wait, oh we're doing this. Right. I don't remember saying that but it sounds about right.**

 **Aetheo: *coughing fit***

 **Well, I got nothing. But… we got a friend here who might have something to say.**

 **Duck: Squawk.**

 **This is the Roc. (BUM BA-DUM BA)**

 **Aetheo: You sure?**

 **The ancient bird of Egyptian mythology.**

 **Aetheo: And part-time wrestler. (Are you sure about that)**

 **Do you smell what the Roc is cookin'? Hint, it's rock food. Right, Roc?**

 **Chicken: SQUAWK.**

 **Aetheo: I wouldn't think you'd cook your full elephant. But you do you, Roc. Now, how 'bout you do what me'n the Author hired you for?**

 **You see, this is our disclaimer Roc. (Aetheo: BUM BA-DUM BA)**

 **Hawk: SQuawK**

 **Aetheo: Well it's a bird of prey and rhymes.**

 **So the Roc here, BUM BA- no alright. Roxy the Roc here is going to disclaim everything you need to know about dem' Spyro's.**

 **Emu: …**

 **What sounds do Emu's make?**

 **Aetheo: Sounds like grunts mostly.**

 **Oh… well shit, we need something else.**

 **Parrot: Bitch.**

 **Yes. Wonderful.**

 **Roxy: These two prey-animals want me to say that they don't have the rights to make money off of the world or characters of the Spyro universe. Why they would pay someone to say that they can't make money is beyond me, but not beyond my ability to exploit for elephants.**

 **Nice. Thank you, Roxy.**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: A Severe Case of Monachopsis and In Absentia**

For most non-ordinary people, waking up somewhere with little memory of how they arrived removes the very idea of a comfort zone. With such cliché questions as "Where am I?" or "How did I get here?" being their first and possibly only thoughts before they are handed either a devious plot or tragic backstory.

In Spyro's case, while he was no ordinary person- despite his best attempts- he found himself waking up exactly where he remembered with full recollection of how he got there. However, that did not preclude his current "gut feeling" from registering as uncomfortable.

Of course, that wasn't his fault. Volteer had a way of standing over people while they slept that just made them feel like that.

"Are you aware that you rest in the fetal position?"

Spyro, not bothering to look himself over, responded. "No?"

"Oh!" Volteer exclaimed, taking a large step backward. "Well! I see. Then may I discourage such activities? It is drastically more beneficial to sleep on your stomach or with your back straightened. Prevents cramps in the morning! Protects your posture! You'll awaken feeling much better than if you had slept otherwise! Trust me! I can postulate with utmost certainty that-"

By this time, Spyro's expression had glazed over and he had stopped listening. It was too early in the morning for him to be relieved to see the Guardian in good health. Several minutes later, after the rapid slew of speech had ended, he found himself blankly staring into Volteer's face, the Guardian staring back.

"Er…" Spyro sputtered, realizing he had been asked a question. "Yes?"

"Oh! Splendid!" Volteer shouted, ecstatically kneading the ground. "I'll wait outside for you to collect anything you might require before we depart for the mercantile district posthaste!" With that, the elderly drake bounded off into the hall.

Once the door creaked shut, Spyro allowed his expression to mimic his cluelessness. A quick sweep of the room revealed little to him, other than that Cynder wasn't currently present to explain anything. But once he dug into his memory from the day before, Spyro remembered something about Volteer wanting them for a task, though he had no idea what.

But, he was able to conclude that the Guardian's excitement what probably related to that "what" and he had just mindlessly agreed to it whatever the "what" was.

He sighed.

Upon forcing his way through the closet door, the drake found himself amidst the continued bustle from yesterday, sleepily allowing the flood of bodies to carry him toward the main entrance.

Shielding his eyes as he passed through, Spyro once again looked over the vastness of the infirmary in its ragged glory. Despite the undesirability of things to look at, Spyro's eyes were drawn to the infirmary's central roadway. There, obstructing traffic, stood Volteer and Lilith.

Stumbling forward, it wasn't long until he found himself sitting before them. They were arguing about something, and from what Spyro had caught when he entered earshot, it seemed to relate to whatever Cyril and Cynder were doing yesterday.

"Well, I don't care what Terrador thinks! I'm more than capable of curing this… thing! Whatever Cyril called it!" By whatever rights, this was a sensitive topic for Lilith- and she viciously defended her opinion.

"Y-yes! Of course! I don't doubt that, but… but the elixir Cyril formulated can treat a myriad of patients at once…" Volteer, not so much.

"Are you saying that I can't do that too?" Lilith demanded, disregarding Volteer's face space.

Volteer stuttered from his shrunken position. "N-no! No! It's just that… for the betterment of the people, we need to provide a more... Immediate! Cure..." The guardian's eyes darted rapidly when Lilith began to growl. This had the adverse effect of catching where Spyro was standing.

"You agree, Spyro. Right?" Volteer chuckled nervously. "...right?"

Spyro blinked. "Uh… yes?"

The attention Volteer had brought to Spyro also grabbed Lilith, but unfortunately for the Guardian, hearing a third opinion didn't seem to sap her pride one bit. With continued snarling, she backed off.

"Fine!" she shouted, turning away. "If neither of you thinks I can do it then I'll just have to prove you wrong!"

As she stormed off, Volteer called out. "Miss Lilith! I-I don't believe exclusively treating-" Before he could finish, she lashed out and whipped him in the nose with her fern-like tail blade.

"Oh, silly Volteer!" Lilith slithered up and pressed herself firmly against the Guardian's chest. Slowly, she snaked her head beneath his and whispered softly in his ear.

"That would be rude," she said, nuzzling his neck.

Volteer looked thoroughly terrified. "Of course…" he swallowed.

Abruptly, Lilith's body lurched violently and she was overtaken by the giggles. A few seconds later, Volteer fell victim and began to chuckle nervously, probably fearing for his life. The only person who wasn't laughing was Spyro, who was simply blank and confused.

But Spyro's confusion was put aside as not soon after Lilith removed herself from around Volteer. Taking a moment to grab him by the shoulders and shake him vigorously, she ran off laughing into the mess of tents, leaving them with a shout of "Got your bone!"

Spyro didn't have much to say. The eccentricity of the situation had gone far beyond him and in all honesty, he was still tired, so Lilith's… Lilithness didn't have much of an effect. But when he turned away from the now-fading laughter of the mad dragoness to Volteer, he found no such immunity.

"Master Volteer?" Spyro initiated. Hearing his name seemed to pop Volteer out of his stupor. Turning to Spyro, he spoke.

"Y-Yes?" he said.

Spyro pointed to his own snout. "You have something…"

"Oh!" Volteer exclaimed, going cross-eyed. Reaching up, he pulled the grassy needle that Lilith had left when she whipped him out. "T-Thank you, Spyro. I..."

Then, the Guardian paused and Spyro's confusion levels returned to a solid seven out of ten.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

Volteer reconciled a distraught expression. "No! Ah, n-nothing at all! Spyro."

"Okay? Um, you said we were going to the... mercantile district?" Spyro asked, pulling his attention away from where Volteer had begun crushing the needle.

"Yes! Of course!" the Guardian started, scraping his foot against the ground. "W-Why don't you go ahead? Find Cynder! Yes! How about you go ahead and find Cynder."

"Sure?" Spyro asked. "But why-"

"Don't worry about me! I'll catch up with you before we depart!" Volteer interrupted, smiling impatiently. "I just have some… things, to attend to before then!"

"O-kay? But-"

"Go on!" The elderly drake pressured, motioning Spyro off with a flick. "Just follow this span here! It will deliver you straight there!"

Spyro stood, incredulous, as he watched Volteer curl in on himself with an ever-increasing nervousness. Eventually, but with no lack of suspicion, he took a step back.

"Alright," Spyro said and turned away. With a small skip, he jumped into the air, flying off in the direction the Guardian had directed.

With the increased speed that flying brought, it wasn't long until Spyro had broken his way into the cityscape. Unfortunately, it also wasn't long until the distance between buildings became so narrow that, from the height he was at, roads began to vanish beneath the intricately arched and domed rooftops, hiding the path Volteer had instructed him to follow.

Forced to land, Spyro paused as his eyes adjusted to the city's morning shadow. Suddenly, he gasped and jumped to the side. With no apparent sense of safety, a wooden cart barreled past him.

"Hey! Watch where yer goin'" The "driver" yelled as his cart was carried into the distance.

It took Spyro a moment to right his senses and fully realize where he was. With a sudden rush of fear, he quickly stumbled to the nearest side of the street. Another cart flew past him.

The only real Warfayin chaos he had seen up to that point had been the reconstitution of the lower city, the "landslide" not counting in his book due to its artificially-induced nature. But when he took a brief moment to look back, it became apparent to him that the so-called "chaos of construction" was all controlled.

What stood before him now was true chaos, and it was simply people... selling things. Somehow, the claustrophobic avenue, hardly worthy of the title, had become a street vendors' paradise.

A third cart.

Shouting and calls for prices or attention bounced around the walls as competing shops yelled each other out of business. Clothing articles were waved about, the people selling them hoping to stand out above the crowd. Foot trolleys were being pushed along with the traffic, even while they had active customers. The only stores that seemed placid were the niche ones, such as one shop that, from the short glimpse Spyro had caught of it, sold dream-catchers made of woven rocks.

This was, of course, all in exclusion of the shops inside the buildings, but the literal wave of bodies prevented any such onlooker from seeing them.

Spyro had no clue what was going on. He had never seen so many people up close like this and so far, he was not enjoying it.

Swallowing, he took a step back.

"Woah!"

Cart.

Spyro jumped and spun around. He was faced with a spindly looking mole behind a small counter.

"Watch it with that tail there, buddy!" The energy behind the voice was obviously forced. "Or someone might think you're tryin' somethin' shady." The mole then kicked Spyro's tail out from behind the counter.

"Oh!" Spyro yelp, moving his tail beneath his body. "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

"Aye! Don't sweat it! Say! You look like a fashion'ble guy!" The mole then, with an astonishing speed, swooped up and grabbed Spyro around the neck. "I mean, you don't see a lot of dragons these days, but I can tell your scale color's quite unique!"

"R-Really?" A single drop of sweat fell into Spyro's eye.

"Yeah! I mean look at you!" The mole let Spyro go and stood awkwardly before him, waving a hand across his body. "I mean if those colors don't scream royalty then I'm in the wrong profession."

"Uh…"

"Say! What if I cut his royal highness a deal?" The mole scurried up back behind his stall. Rifling around for a second, he prepared something just below the countertop. "You see, I got this item. Incred'bly rare! Comes all the way from Tall Plains! And you know how hard it is to get antiquities from there now'a days!"

"Y-Yes?"

"Ah! Ya'see! I knew ya'd be interested!" The mole looked absolutely ecstatic. "Now, I can only show ya it for a second. Don't want any… undesir'bles seein' it, ya'know! Yeah! Yeah! Alright, so…" The mole leaned in very close to Spyro's face.

"When I count to three, I'm gonna poke it out. Alright?" Spyro nodded dumbly. "Alright. One… two… three!

Just the mole said "three," he shot the item into view. It was a hat, bowl-shaped with a large brim and holes cut into it for horns. But the special part about it wasn't its tan coloring or maroon ribbons. It was the fact that it looked like a peacock had died on top of it.

"Ah! Ah! Yeah! Look at this beauty!"

Correction, a peacock had died on top of it, the stuffed bird literally making the hat twice as large as it ever had any right to be. Spyro's mouth hung agape in shock.

The mole laughed and put the bird with head affixments back under the table. "That look on your pretty face tells me ye've never seen anythin' like it. Right?"

Silence.

"Right. Well! My royal friend! Seein' as I like you so much, I'll make you a special deal. Yeah?" The mole jumped up to the seat behind the counter and looked down at the dragon. "Originally, I was gonna sell this work of art for five-'un'red pieces, but just for you, I'll cut it down to three-fity. Yeah! That sound good?"

Spyro blinked. "Uh… no?"

The mole froze. "No? But, that's a steal! Alright, alright… three-twenty-five."

Spyro took a step back. "Um, n-no I'm g-g-"

"Really? Okay! Okay… three-'un'red."

With a rush of wind, Spyro lept into the air.

"Come on, that's a great deal!" The mole shouted as the drake began to fly away. "Okay! Your loss! But, but! Hey! Tell your friends, yeah! Yeah? Yeah… he'll tell 'em."

Spyro was hyperventilating. His eyes were glazed over in fear and a film of sweat was pooling beneath his scales. Who was that mole? Was he even talking to them? He couldn't remember, there was simply too much going on around him.

This place was just too spontaneous. He couldn't just "turn off" like he did when he got into fights. Just letting reaction and instinct do all the work. This kind of spontaneous required his full attention.

He had never experienced anything like it and had no idea how to handle the marketplace's cacophony of the senses. There were too many sounds and colors and the whole place reeked some conglomerate of smells. Not even the airspace was clear; the buildings so tightly packed and there were banners everywhere and, and…

Spyro yelped as he flew face first into a hung up shirt. Quickly becoming entangled, he panicked and began to struggle. With a snap, the clothesline broke, and he plummeted to the ground, twisting as he fell.

Flaring his wings, Spyro landed roughly, with neither airfoil fully extended, trapped beneath the folds of cloth. Tearing the fabric away from his face; he gasped for air.

In his discombobulated state, all Spyro could see were blurs. The needle-precise headache that wracked him between the eyes made it hard to focus and as he grasped his forehead, his body trembled.

"Isn't… Isn't that a purple dragon?"

The heavy breathing at the forefront of Spyro's mind died. And likewise, his body froze.

"Hey, yeah! It is! I thought they were only a myth!"

With visible and awkward tentativeness, Spyro lowered his arm. He was immediately greeted with the gazes of what had to be twenty or thirty different people, all staring at him with mixes of surprise and excitement.

"Mom, look! It's a purple dragon!" His head turned.

"Deary, look. It's the one in the fairytales." Whipped to the side.

"Amazing!" Shot toward.

"Wow!" Darted.

"Can I get your autograph?"

There was a crash.

Spyro jumped, realizing belatedly that the sound had been produced behind him. Spinning around, he was met with the downed figure of a waiter and a platter whose contents had been launched off somewhere in his peripheral vision.

"O-Oh!" Spyro started, his tail again curling around himself. "I-I'm so sorry! I-I..."

"Mom, what's wrong with him?" His head turned.

"Oh, my. He doesn't look alright. Does he?" Whipped to the side.

"I think he's lost," Shot toward.

"My bloody clothes!" Darted.

"Are you alright, friend?"

Spyro's panic bubble popped staring deep into the eyes of another waiter. A Cheetah, this one was, and he looking at Spyro with a mix of annoyance, excitement, and concern.

"Are you lost?" The Cheetah asked.

"I-I-I-" The stutter in Spyro's voice was growing. "I don't-" The drake cringed, his headache rearing up again.

When the waiter saw Spyro block his pained face, he outstretched a hand.

"Just calm down, frie-"

Like a frightened animal, Spyro scampered away from the Cheetah, pausing only mentally as he apologized to the people whose chairs he was pushing around. The drake jumped into the air and ungainly flew away from the open-air restaurant.

There was no thought behind this flight, simply panic and desire to escape. Unfortunately, this meant that Spyro crashed, mere seconds later, landing on the porch of a storefront a surprising distance from the restaurant before.

Immediately, he brought both paws up to his head. The pain he was experiencing was unbearable. He had been slashed, stabbed and shot, but whatever was happening right now, this overzealous pinpoint of a headache, was nearing the top of his list. The pain continued to grow.

He just couldn't block out the noise, the ceaseless chatter of those around him. Emanating from hundreds of mouths and objects, ricocheting wildly off the walls, effectively duplicating itself until one voice sounded like a thousand. And under it all, the rising drone of the ring. Static and just as endless, abandoning reason as its volume rose above the discord yet not covering it in the slightest.

Then, with no external trigger, Spyro's breathing began to slow. He had remembered something. A memory from his home, and an incident so very similar to this one.

It was the day a famous merchant had come to town and all the neighboring villages had congregated within his own to hawk, browse, trade and buy. Hundreds of bodies; noise more than he could handle. Pure claustrophobia and sensory input. Shutdown.

Expect everyone then had been a hundredth of his size.

The situation put him in a panic similar to now. But rather than breaking down, he simply ran away.

When he was found by Sparx and his parents later that day, he explained what happened. He remembered his mother being concerned and comforting him, but that was all she could do. However later that night, his father brought him outside for a chat.

Spyro chuckled to himself, recalling how ashamed and scared he was when that happened; thinking he had done something wrong and got into trouble.

Instead, Flash went on to talk about how some people sometimes don't do so well in these kinds of situations. That their minds just worked differently. He told Spyro about his brother and how he also had that problem but eventually grew out of it.

"Actually," Flash said. "The last time I saw him, he told me that it still happened to him."

"S-So, I won't grow out of it?"

"Maybe not, kiddo… But," Flash put on a smile. "He did tell me his little trick for getting around it. Whenever it would happen, he said that he would take a deep breath, close his eyes and remember where he was and why he was there."

"I'm in Warfang... to help people," Spyro mumbled.

"Then, he would focus on one sound."

A slow creak filled Spyro's mind.

"And try to envision what it was and where it was going."

A small cart, being sluggishly pulled up the street by an elderly mole.

"Then he would open his eyes and look to see if he was right."

And Spyro was.

"Then, he'd be able to think clearly enough to know what he was going to do next."

He was going to help.

When Spyro actually did open his eyes, he found himself no longer on the side of the road, but instead in its center. Before him, a cart and an old mole.

It was the undertaker.

A dumb, self-defeating smile spread across Spyro's face as he felt himself die violently on the inside.

If the ancestors were ever laughing at him, now was the time.

"But… why?" he whispered and his smile dropped to a look of pure hopelessness.

"Eh?" the undertaker mumbled. He noticed Spyro standing next to him.

But why?

"Oh, it's you again. What do you want?" the gravelly voice of the old mole droning in Spyro's ears.

He finally understood what Sparx was talking about whenever he said: "internal screaming intensifies."

"What? Do you think I got more bodies for you to burn?" The mole laughed. "Well, I was actually mighty surprised by the work you did last night. Fine that was. Way better than that other one."

Spyro wasn't really able to appreciate the compliment.

"So as it turns out, I actually have… MORE BLOODY CORPSES!"

Appreciate... the compliment.

"You thought I was done with ya? Ha! Is that it? With the job you did last night, we might just finish it all within the next season or two!"

The… compliment.

"Yup! That's what happens when you let a massive world destroying golem into a city! See you tonight, you sick freak!"

Complement.

But somehow, even over the undertaker's thorny laugh, Spyro heard a strained grunt from the other side of the cart.

Piano...

A choir, unseen, rang out through the open air. The voices were quiet, at first, merely background ambiance. But, as the undertaker hucked and began to walk away, the choir recognized his importance in their grand reveal and grew louder.

Mezzo-piano.

A cello added it's slow, sturdy sound. The low reverberation providing a shape for the breathy "aww" of the choir. A simple bass note, growing to a chord as the volume crescendoed, but it made all the difference in the sudden musical dynamic.

Mezzo-forte.

A violin danced into the fray! The sounds it made mimicking the jittery, manic motions of its player. The excitement it induced! Synonymous to the sparks flying in Spyro's mind as he wondered what could possibly be behind the soon-to-pass cart.

Fortissimo!

The last note in a snare drum staccato; the cart had passed! The sky exploded and a holy light bathed the newly revealed area! The choir and following orchestra had reached a new peak of volume! All instruments fell into beat, reaching a fifth-chord that rattled the walls in its wholeness!

Unfortunately, this goosebump-inducing auditory bliss was unheard by Spyro.

The fourth wall is truly cruel and unforgiving.

Now that the Undertaker was gone, Spyro could finally see what was behind him. It was another cart. This barrow was smaller but more lavish and decorated than the undertakers- perhaps acting as both a means to carry and present its clearly more valuable wares. Such wares were not visible to Spyro, but it was clear they were heavier than typical goods.

That fact became increasingly apparent when he looked upon the strained face of the mole. This mole, whose name he would later learn to be Reginald, was in fact a jeweler. And aged artisan; similar to the undertaker, in a way.

He was toting all his pieces from his old, incredibly niche location in the lower city to a new store. One that he apparently was sharing with fellow merchants for reasons that were, according to him, "totally not because my precious shop got destroyed by a flood of water."

Whatever the reason he was there, Spyro was more than happy to help him, and the more he learned, the less he thought about the chaos that continued around him.

"Then the next day, I seem him right across the street from my shop!" Reginald had been recounting stories from his earlier days to Spyro, as the elderly often do. "Could you believe that? One day he's stealing right from under my nose and the next, he's waving to me from a window!"

Spyro could only snigger due to the cart's handle being pressed up against his throat. The concept of a handcart didn't really cater to quadrupeds.

But Reginald didn't seem to mind. "I swear, the gall of you young people. It's beyond me sometimes."

Again, Spyro could only grunt. In agreement or not, the mole would never know. But what he did know was were his new shop was. With the flick of a wrist, he motioned Spyro up over the crest of the street they'd met on 10 minutes earlier.

What stood before them was a large, arched gate in the middle of the road. It was connected to the building beside it by walls and ramparts, forcing those to wished to pass through, through it. Not that the gate seemed to never close, due to the sheer amount of people that used it daily.

Spyro craned his neck upwards as they began to pass under it. He noticed guards atop the ramparts, moving in stoic, almost mechanical patrols. That, however, didn't last long. An officer looked in his direction and noticed him immediately.

The uproar that started soon after surprised Spyro, his shocked flinch making it obvious to everyone watching, including Reginald.

"Surprised? Why?" The old mole questioned.

Spyro stopped and set the handle down so he could properly respond. "Well, I've been in the city for two days and so far, that's the only, um, praise? I've gotten."

After taking the time to stroke his mustache, Reginald laughed. "Ah, I believe I know why." He stopped in the shade of the arch and turned to Spyro. "I don't think the Guardians have ever actually announced you. The only reason I know who you are is due to my uncontrollable eavesdropping tendencies while I was taking measurements for one of the Guardians. Cyril, I believe. Mm, beautiful piece that was. Three words: Azurite. Crystal. Centerpiece."

"Okay... I mean, I guess that makes sense," Spyro said. They continued walking. "But, people would still notice me, right? I am pretty, obvious..."

"Vying for attention, are we?" Spyro became flustered. Reginald laughed. "Relax, my boy. But you do make a point." He stopped again and reapplied his "thinking" face. "However, if I were to give it a reason. I'd simply have to say it's due to age."

"Age?" Spyro asked.

"Hm, indeed. There hasn't been a major gathering of dragons in this city for at least… one hundred years."

"One… hundred?" Spyro said slowly, as if it was the first time he'd ever heard the number.

"Hm, indeed. Most of the younger folks around here haven't ever seen dragons. Save for the few in that temple of yours, and the Guardians. Even then, don't see them out much."

Spyro frowned and turned back to arch. He could still see the guards chatting amongst each other, still excited by his appearance. A few even waved to him as he looked back.

"I guess," he said.

"If you're still wondering, I bet those guards know you from the battle," Reginald said.

Spyro turned his nose. "Yeah, I thought one of them looked familiar."

"There! Mystery solved!" Reginald clapped his hands. "No use worrying anymore anyways, we're here!"

Spyro hadn't been paying attention to where they were walking since passing under the arched gate, so it came as a surprise when they stopped abruptly.

When he focused, he was met by a quaint storefront. It appeared to simply be a cafe with most of its seating on the porch, the lack of interior space not allowing sheltered tables, more or less an entire extra business.

"Are you sure this is it?" Spyro asked.

"Of course! See, that's my cousin right there." He was pointing to the mole behind the counter. Before Spyro could react, Reginald turned to him and continued.

"Thank you, my friend. You helped this old mole when you had no obligation to do so."

"O-Oh! It was no problem, really. I was, um, headed this way anyway," Spyro replied.

"Hm, indeed. Well, regardless, philanthropy is in your nature, and I am not one to be outdone." With that, the mole walked to the back of his cart and undid a latch. Opening up the cart, he reached in an grabbed something.

"Here, my gift to you." As he said this, Reginald walked back and revealed a small, gilded box to Spyro.

"Just one of my more… unique pieces." The mole removed the handle from between the drakes neck and wing joints and replaced it with the box. "And don't you be going and saying no, now. I want you to have this."

Spyro kept his eyes on the box for quite some time before asking, "What's inside?"

"Ah, my friend," Reginald said and placed his hands on Spyro's shoulders. "Do you need to know?" Spyro remained silent and let the mole continue. "Well, I think this where we part ways. Thank you, again, Spyro, for your help. I won't soon forget it."

This was the first time Spyro noticed; his eyes were different colors.

Reginald smiled one last time then winked and turned away, taking the cart in hand and shambling over to an alley next to the store. Once he was out of sight, Spyro managed to break free of his thousand-yard stare.

The first thing he noticed was the building Reginald's new shop was situated in. It was not a normal building in the sense of its structure. It was round and layered. Of course, round buildings were a feature of Warfang's, but this particular one seemed different.

The shops that it contained were so disparate in appearance and sculpture that it almost looked like a giant architectural totem pole. Perhaps that was what made it so peculiar to him. Or maybe it was because the building stood completely alone.

When Spyro realized this, he blinked in surprise. He turned around, wondering if it was truly the only building around.

What he saw instead why far beyond what he had imagined.

This grand plaza, dedicated name: the mercantile district, was possibly the largest open space Spyro would ever see within the city.

It was a valley, stretching farther than any he had visited in while Avalar. The roads, riverways; patches of stalls grouped like patches of trees; the buildings mimicking the stone hoodoos that shot up from the earth in scattered places. The people... like grass, crowded and bustling.

And in the middle, a great limestone mountain. It was the only square structure in the whole area, and even then, it had its quirks. Its base could best be described using a five on a die. One, thick, central structure surrounded by four smaller pillars at its edges. These four pillars created diagonal arches that leaned toward the central building and connected. On top of it all was large "box" with a flat roof and bastions.

But even with the view of a lifetime in front of him, Spyro could only think of one thing.

How the heck was he going to find Cynder in all of this?

Spyro stepped forward, his feet lying lightly on the intricately placed stonework. He did not want a repeat of his previous incident. That was quite possibly the worst thing that could happen right now.

But if he did manage to hold it together, his next step was playing the biggest game of Where's Waldo with someone who specializes in popping in and out at the convenience of herself, and inconvenience of literally everyone else.

Spyro sighed and slogged forward through the crowd, the box still safely tucked between his wings.

It wasn't long before he found his way into in the inner half of the plaza, having made it with relative security and serenity. He stepped over a small bridge and discovered an interestingly shop-free ring surrounding the central building.

The ring was small in comparison to everything else, maybe only thirty feet across and shadowed on either side by pools of water. It contained its own ring, this one made of metal and was marked with tallies and pictures a set distance around. Currently, Spyro was standing in the shadow of the building atop the picture labeled "twelve."

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

The one instance in history in which Waldo comes to you. Perhaps this had been a trainer page.

Unfortunately, Spyro's over-reactive shock flung both him and his box several feet away. To double the misfortune, said box slid its way over to the edge of the ring and fell into the water.

Before Spyro could recover and retrieve the mystery gift, Cynder shouted, "I got it," and dove into the pool.

Spyro leaned forward and peered into the water. Simply, he could see Cynder at the bottom of the pool being protected from the water by two walls of wind.

The choir started up again.

"Could you not? Please?" Spyro said dryly.

"Not what?" Cynder asked from her Jesus pool. "Not pick this up or not use my abilities?"

Spyro looked dead.

"Sheesh, fine. Humourless much?" Cynder continued. Picking the box up, she jumped out of the pool.

"How'd you find me?" Spyro asked once she landed.

"Well, Volteer passed by here not to long ago and asked me... where you were," she said, taking the box in her mouth and placing it into a bag at her side. "When I didn't know, he asked me to find you." She pulled on the pack's straps to account for the new weight. "And let's be honest, here. You are the sorest of thumbs."

"Where did you get that?" Spyro asked, motioning to the bag.

"Volteer gave me some coins before he left. Thought I might as well get something useful," she replied.

"I guess."

"Where'd you get this box? It looks nice," Cynder asked.

"It was given to me by a mole named Reginald," he said.

"Reginald, hm? Sophisticated. What's inside?"

"I think it's jewelry," Spyro said, "but I don't know what kind."

"I didn't know you wore jewelry," Cynder teased.

"Hey! I-I didn't ask for this. Anyways, you're the one who wears jewelry," he retorted.

Cynder's eye twitched. "Yeah… I guess so… So does that mean it's mine?"

"Wha- no! I mean… maybe?"

"Aw, truly a shame." Cynder started to scratch her chin. "So… Should we go? Now?"

"Um, sure."

"Alright. This way." Cynder waved in forward, towards the largest building. "Volteer's just inside."

Words aside, the two passed their way through the last three rings and into the large structure's courtyard. It was a luscious garden, seemingly untouched by the war. Flowering bushes and chest-high hedges encircled each other, drawing out some grand picture that could only be seen from above.

As the two walked past marble fountains and pruned trees, Spyro noticed others walking among them. These people were usually in groups of two or three, all of them finely dressed and spaced quite a distance away from one another. Almost as if their words were not fit for gossip.

Upon walking under the first of the building's arches, Spyro could see that it was equally as decorated as the temple, but rather than the carved glyphs depicting ritual and enlightenment, they displayed commerce and marketing between a myriad of races.

"Cynder, what is this place?" Spyro asked, temporarily blinded by the difference of light in the room.

"I don't actually know the name," he followed her voice to the right, "but I'm pretty sure it's a trading hub."

"Trading hub?" he repeated.

"That or a bank, so pick your poison," she continued.

Spyro was silent for a moment. "But you're poison."

He was taking in the room around him, his eyes having adjusted to the dimmer light. The massive, quad-elemental, metal statue in the middle was doing its job and grabbing his attention. Granted, there wasn't much else in the way of sights. Four cylindrical pillars, four plain walls, and every desk in the goddamn city.

Cynder laughed. "Oh, so what. You're picking me?" She turned to she Spyro looking off into the sea of desks. "Ah, you're not actually paying attention."

Spyro whipped back from where he was watching a mole slip their shit. "N-No, I am!"

"Am what?" Cynder asked.

Spyro looked confused for a second before mumbling "Uh, never mind." Cynder scored herself two points.

After circling around the entire room, the two stopped at a large, closed door.

"I'll go get Volteer," Cynder said, promptly diving into her own shadow and gliding under the door.

Spyro "hm'd" and bit his lip. It was no less awkward for him, compared to any other random schmuck, to stand stagnant in front of a door for five minutes, despite supposedly being the savior of the world.

Lucky, after those five minutes, the door opened and out stepped Volteer.

"Ah, Spyro! Are you read- oh he's not present." Spyro walked around the door. "There you are! I see you've arrived!"

"Sorry about the delay," Spyro grumbled, rubbing the side of his face.

"Oh, it's inconsequential, my boy! In fact, if it weren't for Cynder here I'd still be jabbering on, and I know you're patient but-"

"Volteer!" Cynder interrupted. "How about we get going, yeah? You still haven't actually told us where we're headed."

"Oh! Right, yes, my apologies. I didn't mean to leave you to the whims of conjecture. Ahem. We are traveling…" Volteer went quite. Well, as quiet as one can be while they're fanboying. "To the Dragonfly Swamp Temple!"

The moles meandering around them jumped in surprise at the Guardian's outburst.

Spyro thought for a moment. "Wasn't it destroyed?

"Yeah, Malefor ripped it out of the ground. It should, actually, still be the middle of the… well, Not So Burned Lands," Cynder added.

Volteer giggled. "That is true, but he wasn't able to remove the entirety of its construction."

Cynder raised an eyebrow. "And by that you mean...?"

Volteer… giggled. "He didn't take my stash!"

Spyro and Cynder gave each other a look.

"Stash of what?" Spyro asked.

"And how do you know he didn't take your… stash?" Cynder finished.

"Ah! Don't fret young dragons! I am confident that my stash is still safe and sound where I marooned it!" Volteer began excitedly kneading the ground again.

"Right..." Cynder said.

"Well, fruitless pontificating about here!" Volteer shouted. "Let us travel!"

With that, he jumped forward, practically ran around the room and out the door.

There was a well deserved moment of silence once the Guardian was out of sight.

"So… are we going with him?" Cynder asked.

"Don't be like that," Spyro chided. "It won't be that bad. At least we'll get to spend time with him."

"That's fair," she said. Once they reach the courtyard, she added. "Maybe we'll see Sparx."

Spyro was taken aback. He had actually forgotten about his brother up until that point. "I thought he was here."

"I thought so too. I went to look for him last night," Cynder smiled to herself. "Was gonna tell him you died. But as it turns out, no."

"Huh," Spyro mumbled, finding absolutely nothing wrong with what she had just said.

"Maybe he went back to your home."

"Maybe."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Well, this was supposed to be a Drake and Josh season 5 Christmas Special but seeing as we finished the editing thirty minutes late...**

 **Aetheo: However- we are not GMT-11 so it is still Christmas somewhere. It's like the 5'o'clock somewhere thing but for procrastinators.**

 **Someone else can check the technicalities for that.**

 **Aetheo: Well, I just did. We can definitively get this out before it is no longer Christmas in Hawaii, so we are most definitely fine.**

 **Neat. Nice fact-checking. Kinda like I checked how many seasons of Drake and Josh there were before writing that.**

 **Aetheo: This is the sort of pointless fact-checking authors and their altogether too-loyal proofreader/editor/fact checker/friend/stupid idiot word writers do. I hope you're happy, readers.**

 **Yeah, this is suddenly on you.**

 **Parrot: Fag.**

 **Hey, that's insensitive.**

 **Aetheo: Get that damned bird out of here.**

 **Parrot: Fuck you.**

 **I'm starting to question if it's actually a parrot.**

 **Parrot: I did 9/11.**

 **Aetheo: Real-talk: How is a parrot typing? That's where we went wrong.**

* * *

 **Authors Fodder:**

 **Tautology: Tautological**

 **Migraines Suck. Typically. Except when you load up on drugs and can use it as an excuse to get out of something. Then they're just a painful inconvenience with benefits. (Sounds like my last boyfriend)**

 **Ring in and ring... Ringception.**

 **Only when I'm feelin' the Reg.**

 **Fudk yuu smellcheck**

 **Aetheo: So I gang sign people, you shoot yourself?**

 **Spyro: Aboslutly**

 **Retrieve the mysterious dick**

 **Aetheo: Was… this your word?**

 **Aetheo: That's not a word…**

 **Chapter finished on December 26, 2017. (At 12:34am GMT-8 so technically still a Christmas special.)**


	15. Temple Congregation

**A/N:**

 **Howdy Gents' how was your New Years…**

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **Aetheo: Well, now we get to test Unicode cross-applicability between google docs and .odt format. Here goes nothing. No effort whatsoever, to be entirely honest. Just… Lenny.**

 **And it's the no effort tests that provide the best outcome because you don't expect much to begin with…**

…

 **Yeah, so, here's the chapter.**

 **Aetheo: This time, fun things happen, and the one thing that all of you have been looking forward to since the very… second chapter has begun: Ellix x Kein.**

 **( ͡◉ ͜ʖ ͡◉)**

 **You're spoiling the chapter… in the chapter. Redundancy.**

 **Aetheo: You never know with some of our... sillier readers. They might miss the subtle romantic tension, the burn of romance that begins with a single glance, the candle and flame that explode into the burning passion of a wildfire within a tornado, the low smashing of waves against the coast that tears away at cliffs over weeks instead of centuries.**

 **( ͡⊙ ͜ʖ ͡⊙)**

 **Aetheo: They may miss the earth-shattering revelations, the quaking of those within reach of the planet's uncomfortable shifting beneath the weight of their passion.**

 **So love is just a massive fucking natural disaster…  
**

 **Aetheo: Pretty much.**

 **Dude same.**

…

 **That was our disclaimer, by the way.**

* * *

 **Chapter 15: Temple Congregation**

Never wake up wondering why you aren't dead yet. Just don't. Even if you think you have every right to. Take Kein's case, for example. He completely expected to die, asphyxiated by his own internal bleeding, when he passed out. Only, he didn't. Instead, he woke up later the same evening on a giant mushroom cap; one arm shoulder deep in a river and one leg completely asleep because it was being laid on.

"What's _that_ look supposed to mean? Is this somehow a _problem_ for you?" Ellix responded about as insensitively as he'd expected.

Granted, Kein had no clue where he was at the moment, so his expression probably told more than any words he could have mustered. Still, he tried anyway.

"Fuhuh?"

Ellix raised an eyebrow, "Same."

"Fuck off," Kein garbled out. He pulled his arm out of the river, whatever remained of the sleeve now thoroughly entangled with the duckweed analogy that glazed the water's surface.

"Oh! Looks like someone woke up with some spice," Ellix chirped.

After that, there was silence between the two. Kein remained face down on the mushroom boat, staring half aware into the water; thinking about all that had happened while trying his best not to look at the blood that was still on his face. Ellix just watched.

Kein threw up in his mouth.

"That's disgusting."

Kein didn't respond. Rather, he began to flip himself over. With the grace of the hammered and a good thirty seconds, he managed to roll to his back. The boat continued to rock in the wake of his movement.

"Wow, that was a pilgrimage, wasn't it? Do you need anything? Snacks? Water?"

Kein stared into the night sky for a moment, then spoke hoarsely. "This place has two moons… or is a moon."

Ellix raised an eye ridge as Kein groaned into his hand. "Yeah? What does that mean to you."

The drake was given the death glare. "You know... I would kick your dumb ass off th- _cough_ , boat." He looked to where his free leg was, which happened to be perfectly placed to kick Ellix in the face. "But, I know you'd just... flip the fuckin' thing."

Ellix appeared vaguely moved. "I mean… you're not wro-"

"But... yeah," Kein interrupted.

"...Yeah, what?"

"Yeah, water," Kein mumbled.

"What?"

"Wa~ter."

Ellix scoffed. "What do I look like? Your mother?"

"Bitch… _cough_ , I bet you still live... with your mother." Kein tried to sit up. "Where's Sparx? Spar- _cough_!" The attempt was pathetic.

"He's not here, dumbass."

Kein looked Ellix in the eyes. "No shit, _dumb-cough-ass_. Why do you think... I'm calling for him? Or are you so antisocial that y- _cough_ , don't get that?"

"Where is this coming from?" Ellix laughed.

"Yo!" Sparx flew into view from somewhere off on the rivers shore, the glow around his body now ever so apparent in the setting sun. "Kein! You're not dead! I knew you'd make it!"

Kein took a second to wonder how this species managed to survive as literal flying beacons.

Ellix grunted. "You know, if I recall, the moment he passed out you took one look at him and almost threw up; 'Oh, oh ancestors, _hark_ , I think he's dead. I gotta… oh, he smells so bad. I need to leave for a moment~'"

Kein at least granted Ellix a point for impeccable acting.

"In my defense," Sparx held a hand to the sky, "you really do smell."

"Wha- _cough_ , I don't fucking…" Kein groaned. "Sparx, just... can you tell me somethi~ng?"

"Yeah, sure. What's up. And you can just straight ask me. No need to be all like, 'warning: question incomi-'"

"Is the water drinkable?"

"...Well, yeah. You just gotta get past the surface," Sparx said. "Trust me when I say, these pearl spores are pretty gross."

Kein leaned heavily into the mushroom cap, causing Ellix to copy his actions on the other side in order to balance their makeshift boat. He had been hoping for just that, but his expression certainly didn't show it. Though, he felt a bit too crappy to even be happy about not having to drink his own piss.

Sighing, he dropped his head to the side and looked downstream. They were about to pass around a bend occupied by a thick bundling of reeds, some of which were stretched out far enough into the middle of the river to reach.

"Intuition… please," he mumbled.

Letting his hand flop out over the edge of the boat as they passed the reeds, he grasped for them. With his weak grip, a few slipped pass, but eventually, he managed to take hold of a firm stalk and yank it out of its bush.

Placing it into his lap, he looked up.

"Fuck off."

Ellix's mouth crooked. " _Tsk_ , and I'm supposed to be the asshole."

Sparx began to whine. "Hey, man! Why'd you say that? I just interested in what you're doin'."

Kein had taken Tom's knife out of his bag and was trying to cut the ends of the reed stalk. "But you're lookin' at m~e like I'm some kind of- _cough_ , foreign freakshow."

Ellix took his chin with one forefoot and gestured at Kein with a wing. "Yes," he said, definitively.

"Fuck~ off."

With nothing else to say, the group fell into silence. Kein used the valuable time to finish his makeshift straw. Simply taking one end up to his mouth, he used whatever breath he was able to muster and blew through it. After making sure the airflow was uninterrupted, he rolled to one side and dipped the reed in the water.

Sparx stroked his chin, watching Kein drink from the river. "Truly ingenious. In mere moments, this previously unknown creature had constructed a tool to bypass the river's natural defenses. Does nature no know bounds?"

Ellix chuckled. "You should write a book," he mocked. "Call it… Animal Planet, or something.

Kein choked, sputtering violently as dimensional boundaries shattered around his ears. Unfortunately, his body's lurching only served to shake his guts like some sick bartender and with casual disregard, he vomited into the water.

As the 1 parts bile, 1 parts blood, 2 parts water, shaken-not-stirred margarita of bodily fluids and pain spilled into the river, Sparx cringed.

"You're not gonna just like, die right here, are you?" he asked.

Kein silenced him with a finger and took the time to wash his mouth out.

"Well," he said, "I haven't died so far, so what do you-"

* * *

"-think?"

Volteer blinked his stupor away. "I-I'm sorry?"

"What do you think?" Cynder repeated.

The three were currently camped on the border between the dragonfly swamp and the Valley of Avalar. The two different backdrops of foliage painted quite the picture, one quite difficult to see in the fading light. The Guardian's only saving grace in this instance was the fire at his feet, which illuminated the area just enough to reflect light off Cynder's deep violet scales.

"Oh… Um, I'll require a tad more exposition than that, I'm afraid," the Guardian said. "My mind isn't quite what it used to be."

Cynder was also in the same boat- Volteer was almost hidden in the yellows of the mushroom forest, but his size betrayed him; light bathed across his form.

"You had that look on your face. The 'I'm contemplating' face." Cynder said. "So I ask, what do you think?"

Volteer laughed. "A strange way of putting it, I suppose, even if correct" However, his jolliness died quickly. "But you needn't burden yourself with this old dragon's thoughts. I doubt you'd find it interesting, regardless."

Cynder smiled. "You need to work on dissipating questions."

"Have I gone and made you more interested?" Volteer asked.

"Yup!" The Guardian sighed.

"Ah, well. I suppose you're right then." Volteer chuckled again, managing to keep the happiness for a little longer. "I guess it won't cause any harm to address my feelings."

"As long as it's to the right person," Cynder replied.

Volteer "hm'd" in agreement and threw the fire some fuel. "It just seems-" he paused, most likely looking for a better intro. "I'm sure you're aware I've been put in charge of a majority of the city's logistics and financial programs. I believe I informed you of as much yesterday."

"You did," Cynder said.

"Mm, yes, well. I've discovered an issue insofar as our funding goes, and my attempts to push it back have only resulted in more problems. As you know, the economic centers were destroyed, demolished, obliterated in the attack, and the treasury stores with them. So, I've been trying to come up with a way to revitalize the economy, but every solution I've thought of would require the funding that would have been provided by that selfsame empty treasury."

"That's annoying," Cynder said.

"To make it worse, we're having to rely on a lot of third-party construction companies to even keep up with deadlines. Which is in and of itself a pressuring issue, as per their dependency on the immediate acquisition of resources we don't have." Volteer sighed and buried his face in the dirt. "Despite the constant, looming threat of war, it seems the King wasn't anticipating such destruction."

Cynder also took on a distraught expression and lowered her head. "Yeah, that golem was quite the trump card. Spyro and I let it too far into the city… we should have confronted it in the main gate's courtyard."

"Nonsense!" Volteer exclaimed with sudden vigor. "I feel you two were quite right in waiting until it was completely isolated to engage it."

Cynder grinned faintly. "I'm happy you feel that way, Volteer, but… we did so at the expense of everyone else."

Volteer sighed. "Cynder, while I will admit the golem's path was a violent and costly one." The Guardian chuckled quietly. "You should have seen Mason's expression when we gave his team the task of repairing the aqueduct system without cutting off the source."

Cynder smirked. "Okay, that just sounds cruel."

"Perhaps it was. But regardless," Volteer leaned down to Cynder's eye level. "The fact that you defeated the golem where you did, in spite of everything else, is more than any of us had the right to asked of you." He looked to where Spyro had fallen asleep, no more than a foot from Cynder's side. "Either of you."

Cynder cocked her smirk, her eyes also on Spyro. "Not to sound unappreciative of your sentiment or anything, Volteer, but… it's kinda our jobs to kill the big baddies."

"It would seem that that is the task the world has set upon you both," he said, returning to his normal position.

"Don't be so down about it," Cynder said. "It's not like either of us had a very normal childhood."

"I don't think that's a valid excuse to have dragons your age fighting life-threatening battles," Volteer replied.

"I guess, but… well at least I, don't really have a good example to compare a 'now' versus 'then' in terms of difficulty." Cynder fidgeted with her answer for a moment, then looked up with a smile. "So, to be honest, this is pretty great for me."

Volteer was silent for a moment, his face portraying nothing but concern for the dragoness. "You are quite mature for your age, Cynder."

"Well, I _have_ been an adult before."

"Yes, but your willingness and, well, rather lackadaisical, reference to your past is quite concerning for me."

"And I appreciate that concern, but don't worry too much about me. I've lived through that, so I'll live through this," she said. "If I'm totally honest with you, it doesn't really bother me all that much. Like, I feel like it should but, in reality… no."

"Along with maturity, you also have an incredible willpower."

"That, or my ability to care was destroyed by the action," Cynder said. She stood and stretched, then casually flopped back down against Spyro's side. "Actually, I wasn't totally honest. It does still bother me sometimes, usually when Spyro brings it up."

"Is that because he was the one who saved you?" Volteer questioned.

Cynder sighed. "Maybe? I don't actually know. The best example I have is the weeks after we woke up from the battle with Malefor. I was really excited and happy the first few days but after that… I just started to get agitated for no reason. I kinda feel bad about it."

Volteer hm'd, rubbing his chin. "And you said this was a few weeks ago?"

"Yeah, until about two days ago. Maybe I was reacting to a plant in the hills or something."

Volteer failed to respond. He was currently deep in thought. Cynder, thinking the conversation had ended rested her head on his forearms and stared deep into the fire.

" _Mmm_!" Volteer suddenly outburst. He began to cough heavily and hit his chest, as if he somehow managed to choke on his own thoughts.

"Are you alright?" Cynder asked.

Volteer looked at Cynder with puffed cheeks, the words in his mouth perhaps didn't belong outside. After staring awkwardly at her for several seconds, his face lit up in embarrassment and he released his breath.

"A-Ah, yes… I'm alri- fine…" He shuffled nervously in place.

"Uh, maybe you could share?" Cynder said.

"S-Share?" Volunteers face dropped for a second. "N-No, it's okay… I just had a stupid thought from yesterday."

Cynder blinked. "Alright, if it's that embarrassing. I won't pry."

"I appreciate that…"

Cynder relaxed, Volteer's grunt having scared her slightly. With a small sigh, she let her head drop onto Spyro's forearm.

Abruptly, the drake shot awake, the sudden pressure on his arm startling him. He jumped to his feet and, in effect, threw Cynder off him.

"What was that?" he asked, panicked.

Cynder chuckled. "It was me, dummy." Spyro looked confused. "I just touched your arm, sheesh."

"No," Spyro said, his stance still tight and eyes flicking around the treeline. "No, I felt the ground shake."

It took a moment, but Volteer produced an answer. "Ah, yes. It is about that time isn't it?" he said.

"That time?" Cynder questioned, looking between the two.

"Oh, yeah," Spyro said, relaxing and lying back down. "I forgot."

Now Cynder looked confused. "Anyone? Please?"

"Oh. Sorry, Cynder," Spyro said. "At night, the larger monsters start to come out."

"Larger?" she replied. "Define larger, please."

Volteer took up the opportunity. "Oh! Well, to start off there are Growths, Giant Toads, and Keksicks Beetles- but Growths are the only naturally aggressive of the three. Then there are reports of Bulb Spider Queens, which are, by the reports, larger than dragons. Fortunately, the likelihood of seeing one outside its nest is astronomically low. Sometimes Frog Weeds can grow large enough to consume adolescent dragons, but again, the likeli-"

Spyro and Cynder had lost focus by the third word in. Instead, they simply stared into the fire together.

"We should be fine," Spyro said. "Nothing ever comes near the edge of the swamp."

Cynder didn't look too sure.

"It's alright Cynder." He wrapped a wing around her back. "You got me, don't you? Let's just go to-"

* * *

"-sleep?"

Kein sighed. "No, Sparx, for the _fifth time_ , I am not asleep."

"And why are you asking me if he's asleep?" Ellix commented, his eyes closed. "'Hey, did he go to sleep?' I don't care. Kein can sleep if he wants too."

"Ugh, you guys are so boring," Sparx whined and, for the first time since he had shown up, sat down. The stayed there for a few seconds, fidgeting madly. "We should talk about something."

"No," Ellix immediately responded. "Absolutely not."

"There a lot of things I want to talk about..." Kein said, clearly annoyed.

"Let's talk about something," Sparx repeated.

"No…"

"Let's talk about our feelings."

" _Absolutely_ not..."

"Alright, Kein. You go first."

Kein rolled his head forward. Up to this point, he had been enjoying the half-assed quiet. It gave his mind time to be free. A time in which he could forget about being half dead and hungry, surrounded by a moron and a jackass.

But when he looked into the eyes of the jackass, they both knew there was no way, in any conceivable instance, they were going to get out of talking about their "feelings". It was at this time a rare occurrence happened, and they made a mutual agreement to suffer as one.

"So… _Sparx_." Kein said, drawing out the "a" sound as long as possible, "How do you want this to start?"

The dragonfly tapped his cheek. "Start with 'I feel.'"

Kein scowled as reminisces of failed therapy sessions flooded his mind. But in the end, he sighed and gave in. "I feel… annoyed-"

"Shocker there," Ellix interrupted, eyes closed again

Kein continued. "That no one tells me anything until _after_ the fact."

"Hey! That's not true! I told you the temple was destroyed and we're not there yet!" Sparx exclaimed.

Ellix and Kein groaned.

"That's not the point!" Kein said.

"And you can't whine while doing an 'I feel' therapy session. The point of this kind of thing is to literally take what the person has to say at face value!" Ellix said.

"And not _bitch_!" Kein emphasized.

"Sheesh, fine," Sparx pouted. "It's like you both work nine to five office jobs."

Kein growled angrily and sat forward. "That's another thing! I was just annoyed at first, but now I'm pissed!" He pointed at Sparx. "How the hell do you know what a _nine to five_ job is?" Kein turned to Ellix. "And how the hell do you know what _therapy_ is? How the _fuck_ do either of you know these kinds of thing when, so far, I have gotten _zero_ context clues as to those even existing here!"

"I've done therapy," Ellix said.

"Yeah, and everyone knows what a nine to five job is," Sparx added.

"I have _done_ both those things! _Actively_!" Kein yelled in response. "And so far I've only run into _one_ other dragon and absolutely _no_ settlements that could support _either_ of those things!"

Ellix's general lack of interest allowed him only one question. "What did you go to therapy for?"

Kein growled again, this is why he couldn't get any points across, they just ignored him! His menacing stare did die, however, but not due to Ellix's nonexistence expressional change. Rather, he actually remembered the reason for his therapy trips.

His face dropped and is suddenly looked like he regretted a lot more than he was willing to say.

"I don't want to talk about it…" he said.

"'Kay," Ellix said offhandedly.

"I wanna know! It sounds deep and easy to blackmail you with," Sprax commented.

Naturally, Kein ignored Sparx, and instead looked to Ellix, surprised. Obviously, he expected him to pry more.

"What?" the drake asked, feeling Kein's stare. "I can respect people's pasts."

"Really?" Kein asked, skeptically. "'Respect' isn't exactly something you seep."

"Well, I got my own stuff, so it'd be rude to judge."

"Rude…" Kein repeated. "Again, that is the absolute last thing I'd list you being worried about."

"Whatever."

"Pfft, you guys are weak," Sparx said.

Only Ellix heard the dragonflies comment. "Oh, what? You think you got something worth mentioning, pixie?"

"Well, maybe not me. But, I know this chick who's twice as messed up as the two of you combined! Her name is Cy-"

"Actually!" Kein interrupted. "I can see that from you!"

"Hey, I was talki-"

"Because you're a _walking trope_ ," Kein blurted.

"Trope…" Ellix said. There was a moment, clearly spent digging deep into his memory, where he was silent. "I… yeah you got me there."

Kein squealed internally. Beside obvious technological advantages… maybe, he finally had something over the two that they didn't know. And something as... "valuable" as _tropes_ for that matter!

"Ha!" Kein shouted in excitement. "Finally! Something I can hold over you!"

Ellix deadpanned. "I swear, this better not be the actual you…"

"Shut up! Just, please give me this." Kein said. He then reached down to this waistline were his satchel was still tied. Opening it like a fanny pack, he grabbed his binder and pulled it out.

"What is _that_ ," Sparx asked, pointing a finger at it in comedic disgust.

" _Har har_. It's my binder."

"Elaborate," Ellix commented. Regardless of this answer, Kein knew he was interested by the way he adjusted himself. "I know you keep your drawings in it but that's clearly not it."

"Fine. Since the name won't do it justice. This is where I keep most of my thoughts. Like, if I have an idea or need to remember something important, I put it here. I also put my drawings and related things here, as you said."

Ellix looked incredulous. "You keep a physical record of your thoughts, memories, and other sensitive information… that anyone could read should they pick it up?"

"So it's a diary," Sparx said.

"It's not a diary!" Kein attempted to defend himself.

"Kein, this is in every way a diary. This is _worse_ than a diary…" Two against one.

"It's not like I actually write diary-style entries in this!" Kein tried again.

There was a sudden silence as Ellix looked Kein straight in the eyes; without words, the drake conveyed to him how much he thought that was bullshit.

"I bet you'd know all about having a diary," sass invaded Kein's tone. He then opened the binder straight to a tab titled: Tropes. A few more page flips later, he stopped at a word riddled entry.

"Commander Contrarian: Their main purpose in the plot is to naysay and find flaws in the hero's plans so the others can fight physical and social obstacles. They might be legitimate concerns, but are usually spurious..."

Kein dramatically slammed the binder shut and slapped it down on his lap. "That is you."

"No, it isn't." Ellix attempted to defend himself.

"Ellix, that is in every way you!" Kein shouted.

"Yeah, that's pretty you," Sparx said.

"Shut up, pixie! You're literally just taking the most convenient side!" Ellix shouted. "And you don't know me, so how can you even make that comparison?"

"You've displayed enough of your personality to warrant its discriptification," Kein said.

"Discriptification? What are you, five?" Ellix retorted.

"You're proving my point, here!" Kein shouted. "Literally everything you've said up to this point has been _just that_! Look, here's another one..." Kein reopened to his trope page.

"Jerk with a Heart of Gold: A person you would expect to be a big jerkass has some redeeming, nice qualities behind their tough demeanor."

"I don't need your stupid, redeeming qualities! I'm _perfectly_ okay with being a "Jerk with a Heart of Jerk"!"

Kein smiled a wide, evil smile. "Oh! So you mean _this_ one!"

Ellix looked down at the page. Sure enough, the very next entry was titled: Jerk with a Heart of Jerk.

"Screw off!" Ellix yelled, flustered. "What are you gaining from this?"

"This is my revenge for the past two days!"

"Where is this coming from? Dammit!"

"I'm going to destroy you with tropes!"

"No!"

Thus begun the shouting match.

"Good is Not Nice: Good Is Not Nice is the inverse of Affably Evil: characters who are morally slanted toward the good side but are _rude, unfriendly,_ and _mean_."

"Stop!"

"They never kill anyone if they can help it, _nor would they allow people to come to any sort of harm_ by _ignoring them_! They are always willing to go out of their-"

"Dammit stop!"

"-ways to save the town and _complete strangers_! When the call comes, they will answer it, usually with little protest! They often help people in need with _little promise of reward_! In almost every way, they act like ideal heroes!"

" _Screw off_ , _Kein_!"

"Except that they are _asocial_ and _sometimes downright abusive_ toward most people they meet! THEY MAY _REFUSE_ TO EXPLAIN _ **ANYTHING**_ **!** They may also actively rebuke people who express gratitude, friendship, lov-"

"You _BITCH_!"

"This is _literally_ _you_!" Kein emphasized.

"NO, IT THE FUCK ISN'T!"

"Dude, that is totally you," Sparx managed through laughter.

"I Was Just Passing Through: When there is a need for someone to save the hero, but the giver doesn't want to admit-"

" _FUCKING NO_!"

In a spur of movement, Ellix stood up. With one painfully simple action, the drake spun around and kicked Kein's binder over the side of the boat.

" _Shit_!" Was all the man was able to muster before his body, out of pure instinct, snapped back so he could catch it. Unfortunately, this now meant his form was sticking out over the edge of the boat well past his center of gravity. So rather than the _binder_ falling into the water, _he_ did.

 _Splash!_

"Oh, _crap_ ," Ellix exclaimed, jumping to Kein's side of the mushroom cap. There were sounds of panicked, waterlogged flailing. "Aaah, crap!"

Just as he reached the opposite side, Kein's binder was thrown into the boat. Shortly after, two hands grasped its side.

" _FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK-"_ Kein's head came into view.

"Ah, damphit-" Ellix grabbed the collar of Kein's jacket with his teeth and dragged him up.

" _Fuck, FUCK! Fucking ARM_! _FUCK_!" Kein, soaking wet, curled himself around his broken arm.

"Ancestors, why did yo- _ACK_!" Ellix reeled back as he was punched off the mushroom. However, his flight instincts prevailed and he flipped right-side up mid-air.

" _DUMBASS_!" Kein yelled, his fist still dramatically extended. Of course, once the sudden burst of anger had worn off, he reverted to coddling his arm and hissing in pain.

"Ah! What the heck, Kein!" Ellix yelled back, rubbing his snout as he backpedaled in flight.

"What do you mean, "what the heck?"!?" Kein continued to yell. "You stupid _FUCK_! Why did you do that!?"

"Hey, guys…" Sparx whispered.

"Oh! What a _professional_ explanation!" Ellix retorted. "I guess you went to therapy for being retar- _thwap-_ AH!" A particularly firm reed nailed Ellix square between the eyes.

"Shut your mouth you fucking _clod_!" Kein shouted. "You know damn well what the fuck you did!"

"Hey, guys… you shouldn't be yelling right now," Sparx's voice seemed to get smaller.

"Maybe I don't know. Maybe knowing isn't part of my _trope_!"

"Why the fuck did you _kick_ my binder!?"

"Because you were being a twit!"

"Twit!? You're the one being a _TWAT_!" Kein yelled. "And yes! It is exactly part of your _trope_ , _Commander Contrarian_!"

"I mean… I can't exactly stop you, but… It's like, almost nighttime."

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"NO, IT ISN'T!"

"The literal fucking point of tropes is to easily define asshats like you!"

"And really big and nasty things come out at night… all looking around for food. Just, _nom om om om_."

"You're being a fucking child cause you can't handle your _horridly_ clichéd, _stereotype-ridden_ personality!"

"IT FUCKING ISN'T!"

"IT IS!"

Suddenly, a giant, frog-like tongue shot out from the darkened treeline. With a grotesque _splat_ , it nailed Kein straight in the back.

"'Oh! Sparx!'" The dragonfly had his hands over his mouth. "'Why didn't you tell us why there were giant, man-eating frogs in this swamp?' Well, see, the thing is-"

" _SHIII-_ " _Splash_!

"-sometimes-"

"Ah! _CRAP_!"

"-people-"

"Ellix! _I dropped the KNIFE_!"

"-ignore me…"

* * *

"So… what were you two talking about last night?" Spyro asked.

Normally, the sheer intensity of passing wind would have deafened any flying dragon, making any and all vocal conversation completely impossible. But, in Spyro, Cynder, and Volteer's special case, it was not.

The major, or rather, only, contributing factor to this was Cynder and her innate ability to control wind. So as she sat, perched on the back of the Lightning Guardian, she projected a bubble around the three that broke the through the wind like a stone in rapids, creating a wake of calm air.

Fortunately, Volteer respected democratic decisions enough to submit to being a chair.

So, not only could they speak to each other in normal voices, they could fly in comfort as well. It was like they were seated on plush, velvet coaches before a roaring fire; sipping tea and talking about politics or other government affairs.

As much as being a thousand feet above the ground could feel like that.

"Oh, not much. Volteer here was just a little stressed and decided to talk to me," She giggled to herself. "You should've heard some of the stuff he told me. Like, did you know he has a girlfriend?"

" _Phub_ -C-Cynder, kindly, don't spread rumors!" Volteer sputtered out.

"Eh, fine. You're no fun," Cynder said, lazily splaying herself across the Guardians back.

Volteer squirmed, his flight suffering because of it. "And please try not to move. I'm not used to being ridden."

Spyro frowned in confusion and interjected. "Is being ridden normal?"

"Well, _eh_ , not particularly," Volteer started, still adjusting himself, "but during the time you were gone, the number of dragons that went into hiding increased, so we had to find a way to maintain our... air superiority."

In an accidental spur of motion, Volteer launched Cynder into the air. He got thoroughly poked for that. "Ah, Cynder. Please! _Ahem_. The need for such a method increased with the addition of the 'wyvern' grublin variant. So we started to employ mole riders who flew along with dragons during combat."

"Interesting," Cynder commented, smiling to herself. "On average, how many moles would ride?"

Volteer thought for a moment. "Understandably, we needed to keep the load light. Sacrificing mobility would defeat the purpose, of course. So usually, a max of five moles would ride. There were exceptions, of course, but usually just for transport."

"That doesn't seem too heavy… I'm assuming the expendable weight went towards arms, then?" Cynder asked.

"Hm, indeed. The saddles themselves took up most of the weight, even despite Mason's modifications. Crossbows were the main weapon used by the riders, but they were mounted to the side-saddles themselves to prevent them from falling off."

"Did anyone ever get hit by their own shots?" Spyro asked.

"It actually happened less than even I would have assumed. The only incident that I personally describe would be the first time we attempted it. Even then, it was due to faulty hardware."

This was how most of their conversations went. Spyro would initiate, Cynder would make some offhanded quip that would then, in turn, be passed to Volteer, who would accidentally say something he thought to be normal, which would confuse the other two and create questions. Casual talk.

"Is there a Pool of Visions in the Warfang Temple?" Sypro asked.

"E-Eh? Oh! Yes! There is, in fact," Volteer managed. "It's just inside the inner sanctum."

"Really? Hm, not to be rude. But, unless I'm wrong, the room the Pool of Visions was in in the swamp temple didn't seem all that… _sanctum_ , like," Cynder said.

Volteer murmured anxiously. "Oh, well, that was because that was not the inner sanctum. It was, rather, the temple… grotto..."

"So… you moved it?" Spyro said.

"Is that even possible?" Cynder added.

"A-A-Ah… Well, yes," Volteer stuttered. "Y-You see, a Pool of Visions isn't exactly… _difficult_ , to create, per say. It's more or less just a pool of distilled water. Despite it taking all four, er... all four _main_ elements to properly create."

"Really?" Cynder said, surprised. "That's a little… underwhelming."

"I suppose it is… but the ability rests more in the user than the pool itself," Volteer added.

"Is there any way to tell if you can use a vision pool?" Spyro asked.

"I-I'm not actually sure. I can't recall any studies ever made on the subject. Possibly because the practice was sacred in the first place," Volteer went quiet for a moment. "The ability to look into the m-memories and thoughts of others is quite a d-dangerous tool."

Cynder shivered. "I wouldn't want any random person looking into my mind, that's for sure."

"But in the hands of good, well, it is what allowed us to survive this long," Volteer said. "I wish any of the current guardians could use it. I'd like to show you both the day we were integrated into guardianship. Before that, Ignitus was a sage in training- sages used the vision pools- and the crowd's excitement when they learned a sage was the next fire guardian. It gave them hope…"

"How interestingly sentimental of you, Volteer," Cynder quipped.

Volteer tumbled over his words. "O-Eh, uh, hm… I didn't mean to… or actually, eh, oh my."

Cynder laughed. "Oh, come on, Volteer. You act that's a bad thing."

As the day progressed, their travels brought them closer to the temple, and with that, more and more interesting conversations reared their heads. But even with the number of interesting tangents to go off on, the three began to bore. Soon, long swaths of silence crept their way through the group and the drone of wind started to grate on them.

But it _was_ only noon, after all. A _lot_ could still happen today.

"Are you alright, Volteer?" Cynder asked.

"O-Oh? Um… why do you inquire?" Volteer smiled weakly.

"I can feel you shaking," Cynder said, curtly.

"A-Am I? Oh, my… I apologize if I'm making you uncomfortable…" Volteer said.

"What's wrong, Volteer? You're acting so… _not you_ ," the dragoness replied.

Volteer gawked for a second. "I-I don't know, to be truthful. I just feel, unnaturally nervous. The air feels… _off_."

"Well, that's not foreboding…" Cynder laughed. "Hey, Spyro. Can you think of anything less creepy, perhaps?" Her question was met with silence. "Spyro?"

When the two looked to the drake, they found him staring off into the distance. It took a moment, but they eventually followed his eyes.

On the horizon, deep within the bustling ecosystem of the swamp, was a tiny, neon red light.

"What is that?"

"It's… a crystal," Spyro answered.

"A-A crystal?" Volteer said, incredulous. "N-No, that's impossible. A crystal's glow wouldn't be this obvious at this time in the day, especially from this height!"

"Eh, I think I'll trust Spyro's super-eyes," Cynder said. "If he says it's a crystal than that's what it is."

"I-I'm sorry?" Volteer questioned.

"Just go with it."

The Guardian hummed, shortly. "If you say so…"

There was a comradely silence as the three held their gazes on the speck of red light.

"Let's go down to it!" Cynder exclaimed.

"Absolutely not," Volteer said.

"Aw! Why!"

"Cynder, in this case, I must deny your request. I studied essence crystals quite extensively in my youth and from all that I learned, deviations in crystal qualities were rare and considered unnatural." During the time he had been talking, the three had grown closer to the shining life crystal, almost to the point in which Cynder could see it with her own eyes.

"And?" The dragoness asked.

"...And, I will not allow myself to put my students in danger."

"Don't you want to study it? Since it's 'rare'," Cynder pressed.

"I will admit, it has piqued my interest. But my answer is still no." The Guardian said. "Especially since we are underprepared to conduct a proper investigation."

"Awww!" Cynder groaned and rolled over onto her back. She caught the crystal passing by just beneath them. "Eeeh! Fine! But only cause I don't want to get up..."

"Thank you for reconsidering," Volteer said. "I'm sure Spyro would agree with me too. Right, my boy?" No response came. "Spyro?"

Again, the two looked over to where the drake had been throughout the flight. They found him missing. A quick turn back and they saw him stopped mid-air, hovering at their level and above the crystal.

"What in the world is he doing? Spyro! Are you alright?" The Guardian called out.

Cynder frowned. "Volteer, go back."

Doing as instructed, Volteer flipped around and flew back to where Spyro had stopped. As the two neared, they noticed his lack of reaction and expressionless face. He was simply staring down.

"Spyro?" Cynder's tone boarded on a whisper.

"Lad?" Volteer followed up. When Spyro continued to not respond the Guardian reached out to him. "Are you alright?"

His foot clipped the edge of Spyro's beating wing. The drake suddenly jumped, as if he had been woken from a nap.

"I'm sorry, did you say something, Master Volteer?" he said, nonchalantly looking to them.

The two were taken aback. Not just because of his rather calm response, their words were held back for another reason.

"A-Are you feeling alright?" Volteer stuttered. Spyro nodded. "A-Are you sure?"

Luckily, Cynder was blunt. "What's up with your eyes?"

Spyro paused. "My eyes?"

"I-Indeed… they seemed to be… pupiless."

The purple dragon didn't reply. He wasn't quite sure about how to take the situation. But, one this was for sure, he wanted to see for him. Taking a moment to cover his arm in ice, he created a simple mirror. Spyro looked into his reflection.

"I, uh… I don't _feel_ wrong. I mean…" Spyro looked the rest of his body over. "Did I do something?"

"Well... you just kinda… _stopped_ , above the crystal. Can't really find a better word," Cynder added.

"Y-Yes…" Volteer added. "We couldn't seem to pull a response from you." Spyro couldn't think of anything to say. "U-Uh. Why don't you climb on with Cynder. I'm sure she can make room for you."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-Yes, it's quite alright. I'd rather not risk leaving you behind. D-Despite how close we are."

Spyro nodded in obedience and dropped down onto Volteer's back. Once he was seated, the Guardian turned and thrust himself back toward the temple's location. With the bizarre situation still on his mind, the Guardian whispered to himself.

"What in the-

* * *

"-hell is that?"

Ellix and Sparx stopped arguing for the first time since the sun had risen above the mushroom tops. They were both slightly surprised. Kein had yet to say anything, and leading his apparent cognition with "What in the hell is that" was not what they were expecting.

Granted, Kein was fully prepared to not speak a word until they reached the "gone" temple. He was, in fact, quite invested in his task. Not wanting to talk about the night before and the farce that was the toad attack and having little else to do, having already drawn about as much of the swamp as he wanted that morning, Kein had instead taken up basket weaving.

Not underwater, of course, but basket weaving nonetheless.

Naturally, he got teased about it for the first thirty minutes, but his commitment to silence helped with that. The abundance of reeds in the river made sure he never lacked for resources to do so, should he fuck up. With so much time and nearly infinite attempts, he did manage to make an actual basket.

And he would have kept making baskets, in spite of their complete uselessness to him. However, this side-fucked world he was in still had about a million more curveballs to throw at him. It was just unfortunate circumstance that happened to throw one now.

"What is what?" Sparx asked.

Ellix, rather than repeating the question a third time, he looked downstream with Kein. In front of them was a bend in the river. It was sharp and sudden, so what was behind it was simply a mystery. Nothing special, really.

But what caught their eye, was the neon red glow that punched through the blinding sunlight and bathed the trunks of the mushrooms before them.

"What the heck?" Ellix said.

"You have no idea how wonderfully reassuring it is to know you're also clueless," Kein mumbled, his eyes still locked.

As they inched closer, the light that shattered the shadows grew brighter and more menacing. Even the river's golden hue took on a demonic sheen.

With murderously slow speed, the boat rounded the corner.

"What... the... fuck…" Kein barely managed to speak the words.

The scene before them was like that of a nightmare. Black and dead. The entire area beyond the bend had succumbed to what seemed to be a sudden, localized drought. Nothing had been given mercy. Mushrooms, ferns, grass. It was all dead, dry, and withered.

They were forced forward, the river not caring for their fear. Without a word, they passed into the aura of death. Cold settled into their bones, the concentrated desert caring not for sensibilities that insisted heat would come with such circumstances.

Ellix looked over the boat's edge. The pearl spores that coated the river's surface had become dark, dyeing the water a sickly grey, their luster only reflecting the unidentified fiery glow that seemed to take the warmth of its color from its surroundings.

"I-I-I…" Was all Ellix could manage. His normal interest in the unknown completely trampled by the sheer, unnatural force of whatever was present.

They were in deep. All around them, all they could see was dead plant life. The mushrooms and ferns that were usually vibrant instead created a dark, blank wall. The threatening red light, creeping from between the trunks, seemed more like veins, now.

A light breeze passed over them. A mushroom turned to dust, and another, another. The domino effect toppled downward and out until, right before their eyes, the dense wall became an open field. Dry flakes plumed into the air, causing the sky to turn crimson as they acted as backdrops for the light.

"What… god?" Kein mumbled. The collapse had revealed a new factor to them. Hidden behind the black wall was the source of light. A glowing, red crystal.

It was immense, surpassing even the combined size of Ellix and himself. The numerous arms it had grown were sharp and closely packed, as if they were the blades of a tight battle formation. And every few seconds, a pulse. The light would brighten for a moment, then dull. Perhaps a heart of its own.

"Ellix... " Kein whispered. "What is wrong with this crystal?"

Ellix just shook his head, eyes wide. They had passed a few crystals on their walk to the swamp. Of course, Ellix told Kein nothing, so he just came to accept them as a thing. But, none of the ones they had seen even came remotely close the this one's description.

"I-It's so… bright," Sparx managed. The crystal pulsed. "Ah!"

"This is wrong…" Kein said, ignoring the fact that Sparx was using him as a shield. "I don't even know what this is and I know it's wrong."

Ellix still remained silent, his eyes undeviating from the crystal. They floated onward, the other two falling quiet as well. A few seconds later, they were filled with a unexpected warmth.

Kein jumped, his hair standing on end.. "~Holy shit! What the fuc-" He looked downstream, everything had returned to normal. Only the pearl spores still held a remembrance of the aura, but even was fading quickly.

"What _was_ that?" Kein asked, looking to Ellix. The drake was still staring at the crystal.

"Well, all I know is that was some magic…" Sparx usefully interjected. "Some black magic all up in that here hilltop!"

Kein ignored Sparx. "Hey, Ellix? Are you good?" He reached for the drakes shoulder, but his shot got blocked by a wing.

Ellix took a moment to respond. "Yeah, I'm fine." Finally, he turned to face them. "It was just a weird fee- what's your problem?"

Shock adorned Kein and Sparx's faces. They both stuttered for a second, finding difficulty in what they were trying to describe.

"Y-Your eyes…" Sparx managed.

"Your pupils are gone..." Kein followed up.

"What!?" Ellix was taken aback. He flipped himself over, attempting to look at his reflection in the water. The shining pearl spores stared back. "What the heck?"

"Here," Kein said, rummaging through his satchel. A second later, he pulled out a bent, metal spork. "Aw, man…"

Ellix leaned forward once he noticed his own reflection in the silverware.

He recoiled in shock. It was true, his eyes were pupiless, they were nothing more than a full, deep violet. Ellix was speechless.

"Hey, Sparx," Luckily, Kein was there to fill for him, regardless of the look he was getting. "H-How close would you say were are to the temple?"

The dragonfly tapped his chin for a moment. "We should be there by three or four. The river passes directly next to the temple, so we're good."

There was a sigh, Ellix had found his words. "Good." The other two looked to him, his eyes were back to normal. "We're almost-"

* * *

"-there!"

"Cynder," Spyro sighed. "That's not how you play 'I-spy.'"

"According to what you've told me, it is," she retorted. "You said 'I-spy something black,' so I found something black."

Spyro thrust a wing at the cloud of shadow that subsisted above them. "You can't make the thing yourself! You have to find the thing I was talking about!"

Cynder made a mocking "oh" face. "See, that's way more specific. Why didn't you tell me that?"

"You said you knew how to play it!" Spyro groaned.

"Well, now I do!" The smile that appeared on Cynder's face could have destroyed monarchies. Centuries of family lineage crumbling just because she walked into the room and asked for some candy.

At least that's what Spyro thought.

He sighed again. "Never mind." Afterwards, Spyro fell silent, chin in hand.

Cynder simply watched him skulk, not wanting to interrupt his apparent contentment. But the lack of conversation bored her. What was the point of traveling together if they weren't going to talk about stuff?

"Hey Volteer, are we there yet?" Classic conversation starter.

The Guardian took a moment to respond; his head was dipped toward the ground. "If you'd like to see for yourself, you may."

Naturally, she did. "Are we really that close?" Cynder asked. Standing, he began to walk up Volteer's spine.

"Ah! Cynder! Please, refrain!"

"Hey!" the dragoness said, perched between Volteer's horns. "Spyro, come look! It is _literally_ gone."

"What's gone?" Spyro already knew.

"The temple!" Cynder was _very_ excited. "Just… fully _gone_."

"That's not entirely true. One of the watchtowers survived," Volteer sounded less than excited. "Perhaps, I could find _something_ useful in that..."

Spyro peeked over Volteer's side. Below them was a large lagoon, an unusual sight for the swamp. Of course, it was going to be unusual, seeing that, three years prior, the crater-turned-lake was actually the dragon temple. Regardless, it was quite the spectacle.

Due to its unnatural formation, the lagoon had no beaches. Instead, it was lined by rocky cliffs. Whatever tiny areas of beach that did exist were most likely due to the erosion of the bedrock, so they were situated around the serval waterfalls that drained into the lake. Additionally, the Silver River itself ran through the lagoon, sharing its golden hue.

Atop these cliffs were surprisingly flat areas of land. So flat, in fact, that rainwater was able to pool there. The blue, clear water contrasted heavily against the reds and golds of not only the much larger lagoon but surrounding treeline as well. And, since the ground there was comprised of nothing but bedrock, plant life was sparse, creating a very picturesque sense of minimalism between the water and stone.

"Despite what it represents… the scenery is quite nice!" Cynder said.

Spyro hummed. "I guess."

"It's a shame, really," Volteer said, downtrodden. "All that knowledge lost due to one dragon's horrid aspirations."

"Don't be sad, Volteer! You've always got the Grand Library at Warfang!" Cynder said.

The Guardian's shoulders fell limb. "But they aren't the same books!" he whined.

"Well, that's too bad! You'll just have to deal with it," Cynder chided.

"Why are we here, then?" Spyro asked. "You knew the temple was destroyed, didn't you?"

Volteer began to descend, having chosen a proper place to land amongst the pools. "I-I mean, yes, but I didn't know the extent of the damage. This outcome is unsurprising to me, however. But the actual reason we're here is to search for any remaining scraps of the old temple."

"I'd be surprised if there was anything left. It had been three years," Cynder said. "And didn't you mention something about a 'stash' before we left?"

Volteer blushed. "A-Ah, well, yes, I did. That is the second reason we're here."

"What did you hide?" Cynder poked.

"D-Don't worry about that f-for now, young dragon! You will see soon enough."

Within the next few seconds, the group landed. Scraping the sharp rocks away from his feet, Volteer bent down to allow Spyro and Cynder off.

"You don't have to do that, Volteer," Cynder commented, jumping off herself.

"O-Oh, I suppose so. I seem to be used to the action." he said, nodding at Spyro's "Thank you".

"It's those mole riders! They're getting the better of you!" The dragoness reared back and balled her forefeet into fists. "They have taken your _pride_ Volteer!"

The Guardian laughed. "Yes, apparently so. But, I feel my pride as a Guardian fell with this temple."

Cynder smiled. "But you've got a new temple now! A bigger and fancier temple!"

"Indeed I do."

The conversation broke between the two. Spyro, who had respectfully avoided butting in on their chattering, saw his opportunity.

"So, where do we start looking?" he asked.

"Hm, there's no specific place. We're more or less just looking for abandoned books and trinkets," Volteer replied. With that, the three set off and began to wander around the clifftop. After ten minutes of failed searching, they congregate in the middle of the plateau.

"So, I'm assuming by the lack of desire to "show and tell", neither of you found anything?" Cynder asked.

"I'm afraid not," Volteer replied. Spyro shook his head.

"That's a shame," she said. The tone lacked any and all sincerity.

Spyro sighed, he knew this game. "What did you find?"

"Aw, you're no fun," Cynder pouted. Reaching her head around, she pulled a piece of paper out from under her wing. "I found this."

She placed it on the ground between the three of them, holding done one edge so it wouldn't fly away.

"Hey, Volteer. You're blocking the light."

"Oh, my apologies."

A single step back and the noon sunlight flooded down on the paper. There was a collection of blinks and confused stares.

"It's a… drawing," Spyro said.

"It's a half-finished drawing," Cynder noted.

Volteer lowered his head and turned an eye to the picture. "This is quite interesting. No wear or tear, only some dirt. It must be very recent!" The Guardian spent a few more moments scrutinizing the picture. "I am quite impressed by the quality, I wonder who-"

"Doesn't that look like… here?" Spyro interrupted.

Cynder paused, studying the picture closely. "Yeah, it kinda does."

"My word! It is!" Volteer stepped back. "This sketch is of the lagoon!"

"Ah~Fuck!"

The three dragons whipped to the cliff face as soon as they heard the grunt. They watched frozen in shock as tall, thin ape pulled itself up over the edge and crouched before them.

"That, ah, wasn't _to_ ba-"

The four made eye contact.

The creature sighed. "For fuck's-"

 **!000!**

"-sake!"

Kein and Ellix were enraged. They had just arrived at their destination. Unsurprisingly, the temple was gone. Fully removed from existence and replaced by a massive, water-filled crater. A crater that they were currently floating in the middle of.

The scene was not one that should, or would, inspire rage, however. In fact, Kein, and Ellix- to an extent, were both quite impressed by the lagoon. The unnatural landform clashing with the swamp seemed to interest them in their own special ways.

Unfortunately, they weren't able to enjoy it for long. It wasn't long after the arrival that Ellix asked Sparx the direction in which they need to go from the "temple". Surprisingly Sparx said: "I don't remember."

"What the hell do you mean you don't remember which direction the fucking city is in?" Kein was actually a lot more pissed about it then Ellix was. "How!?"

"Did you not tell us the direction when we first picked you up?" Ellix said, his voice muffled by the folds of the mushroom.

"I gave you _a_ direction, not _the_ direction," Sparx said. "And in my defens-"

"No! There is no fucking defense here!" Kein shouted. "Nothing you say could possibly validate that!"

"Why did you even bring us here?" Ellix asked, face still buried.

"Hey! If I recall, you guys were going here in the first place," Sparx retorted. "So why were _you_ going here."

Ellix lifted his head, growling. "Because I didn't know it was _gone_! The moment you said it _was,_ my plan _died_!"

"Along with mine, for that matter!" Kein added. "And I guess _me,_ too!"

"Nah, you're fine. You'll just have to live out here!" Sparx said, waving to the surrounding area. Kein threw a backhand at the dragonfly.

"Are you fucking daft!?" Kein propped himself up on his knees. "I'll be dead within the next fucking week! The only reason I'm not already is because I just so happened to get lucky while sleeping!"

"I'm surprised you managed to survive that frog," Ellix half-heartedly commented.

"I am too! But one hit! One hit right here," he pointed his broken rib, "One slip and fall, one pulled backed branch, _fuck dude_ , if I cough to hard I could fucking kill myself! One fuck up and I'm _dead_!"

"That's a bit of an exaggeration…"

"You should probably stop yelling, then," Ellix said.

Kein fell back into a sitting position, his hands atop his knees. He was an arm-hair's length away from giving up, the only real thing keeping him going was his body's natural will to survive.

He wasn't even really sure if it was worth it anymore. It's not like, if they had found help, he'd be accepted and treated. From all that he had gathered, it was safe to say he was the only human on the whole damn planet, and the only creature that even closely resembled himself was generally hated by everyone.

He had pretty much been, by proxy, pushed so far against a wall that the wall had parted and revealed his own grave. Not that, by this point, he was particularly fearful of such a simple end. So far, with all that he had been put through, Death's Door had become subject to semantic variation.

Kein sighed. Looked like his third chance at life had gone to the dogs… or dragons.

"So… whatcha going to do?" Ellix slurred out.

He thought for a moment, only one thing really came to mind.

"I'm going to draw."

"Alright..."

Not that Kein needed Ellix's approval, of course. Like several times today, Kein reached into his satchel and pulled out his binder. Flipping through the pages, he reached the tab labeled "Scenery" and removed a blank page. The next several minutes were spent in silence, the midday sun beating down on them relentlessly.

Ellix suddenly stirred.

"Did you fall asleep?" Kein asked, tearing his eyes away from the sketch for just the moment.

"No, I just dozed off," the drake said, standing up in the boat.

"Mhm. Where are you going?"

"To look around, see if I can get us out if this mess. Seeing as our 'guide' is borderline worthless." Ellix flared his wings.

Kein looked skeptical. "Sure. Uh, I mean, yeah alright. Okay?"

Ellix scoffed. "Yeah, I'm going to leave right now. Disappear over the horizon." He jumped into the air. "I still want to see you die!"

The sudden burst of wind caught Kein off guard. Out of instinct, he brought his only free arm up to shield his face. Unfortunately, this meant that there was nothing holding down his sketch, so it was promptly stolen by the wind.

"Fuck! Ellix, you ass!" Kein yelled as he watched his drawing sail high into the air. "Dammit! Get it back!" The drake was already gone. "Fuck!"

Kein watched the paper fly far over the lake, flipping and spiraling all the way to the cliffside. It smacked the stone wall, getting stuck between two sharp rocks.

"Dammit," Kein said. Setting his gut down on the boat, he reached into the water and began to paddle. After almost three minutes of non-stop rowing and the mushroom tapped the edge of the cliff.

He looked up, the paper was a good five meters up.

"Fucking really?" Kein pinched the bridge of his nose. What had he done to deserve this? "Hey, Sparx…" The dragonfly was also gone. Kein threw a hand in annoyance. "Cool. Running it solo again…"

Kein sighed again. He really didn't want to give up on that paper, despite that it was barely half done. He also knew that it would be easier to redraw it, it's always easier to remake than make anew.

"Yeah, but… My fucking perspective is all fucked up now!" he shouted to the air. Plus, he was only climbing a cliff. It wasn't like the difficulty was unusual to him anymore.

With anger-induced confidence, he slid his first foot up the cliffside, then hand, then second foot. Suddenly, the first major roadblock became apparent. With the only one hand available, the job became much harder, and there wasn't a ladder of vines to help him this time.

"Ah, shit." Kein studied the rock wall, looking for an easier way up. Of course, there wasn't any. He groaned again. "I'm getting this damn paper!"

Kein adjusted his footing and tried to move his broken arm. He managed to get it above his head, but no further. The weight and pressure of the swollen area too much for him to bear. He became even more annoyed.

Now, with anger _and_ annoyance-boosted confidence, he looked back up the wall. Noting a small jut of rock, a sneer appeared on his face. So what if he fell? There was water.

With little sense of safety, Kein thrust himself up the wall. With a sudden sense of vertigo, he flailed for the jut of rock. Luckily, his aim was true, and he latched onto it at the peak of his jump.

"F-Fuck!" His feet struggled to find a good foothold, but after a second, they managed. He stopped here for a moment, breathing strained. "Okay, that wasn't _too_ bad. One more and I've got it."

Steeling himself, Kein repeated the maneuver. After the same flailing and struggling, he looked to the paper. It, luckily, hadn't moved and was now within reach. There was no way in hell he was going to let go of his grip, so there was only one option.

His broken arm became active again. He was going to have to push it this time. But, with maximum effort and a few seconds, his fingers managed to tap the paper.

"Fucking DAMMIT!" His missed his grab and the paper came loose. Kein swore loudly as he watched the sheet get caught in the vortex of air that rushed along the wall, then again as it disappeared over the top of the cliff.

Anger, annoyance, and rage now fueling his efforts, Kein haphazardly started to climb. Five minutes later, his hand grasped the edge of the cliff. With eyes closed in stress, he pulled himself over. Grunting as his chest hit the ground, he moved onto his knees.

"That, ah," he shook some pebbles from his elbows, "wasn't _too_ ba-" Kein looked up.

His breath hitched and the color drained from his face. Before him stood three more dragons. Three, _new_ , dragons. The race that he had been told _specifically wanted him dead_.

 _Very_ dead.

Kein's face fell and he sighed.

"For _fuck's_ sake."

 **!000!**

 **A/N:**

 **Aetheo: In what.** _ **Fucking.**_ **Way. Was that a** _ **fucking**_ **disclaimer?**

 **Damn, still don't know what's in Volteer's stash. What a** _ **shame**_ **. You know, it could be something…**

 **( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)**

 **Aetheo: I thought you told me someone** _ **else**_ **was the drug fiend? Someone like Lilith?**

 **...**

 **I mean yeah, it's already been stated who. But, let's be real, they're all druggies.**

 **Aetheo: In what way would you say that? I mean, they all have access to magical bullshit, but really? Every Dragon's a Drug Fiend? It sounds like some sort of shitty hipster band.**

 **We should tweet snoopdog.**

 **Aetheo: snoopdogg. Get it right. I live near him.**

 **Get hit?**

 **Aetheo: All the injections of the maryjewanna.**

 **Nice.**

 **Aetheo: Obviously, the entirety of California is wrapped in a cloud of MJ smoke, eternally getting us all high. Or it might just be the horrific smog of LA. You never really know.**

 **!000!**

 **Author's Fodder:**

 **TO IS JUSTICE, AND BEYOND!**

 **The Descriptifaction: Encyclopoediwarriors: The Movie: The TV Series: The Novel 7**

 **It's Jerk all the way down!**

 _ **Fuck of Kein**_ **!**

 **The Sublying Underpostings**

 **Distrodent: He's a distribution rodent**

 **Chapter finished on February 11th, 2018. (At 11:59pm GMT-8)**


End file.
